
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Chap.__\>_^. Copyright No. 
Shelf^A-^ 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



THE 



PHARMACIST AT WORK 



BY 



WILLIAM C. ALPERS 




PHILADELPHIA 

J. B. LIPPINOOTT COMPANY 

1898 










TWO COPIES KECEIVED 




ft* 



Copyright, 1897, 

BY 

J. B. Lippincott Company. 



PREFACE. 



Part of this work first appeared as a series of arti- 
cles in " Merck's Report" of 1895 and 1896. Numer- 
ous favorable comments on these papers and the ex- 
pressed wish of many readers to have them presented 
in book-form induced me to rearrange and complete 
them so as to include all the official pharmaceutical 
preparations. I here render my thanks to the editor 
and publishers of " Merck's Report," for their consent 
to have these essays — even though in altered and 
enlarged form — reproduced in this volume. 

In offering this book to my pharmaceutical brethren, 
I trust that its performance may be measured by its 
plan. There is no intention to present a complete or 
systematically grouped delineation of the science or art 
of pharmacy ; nor is the book expected to replace or 
supersede any other existing work. Its main object is 
to depict, through the means of examples drawn from 
actual occurrence, the necessity of combining theoretical 
knowledge with practical experience in order to meet 
the many emergencies of our profession ; further, to 
place before the older pharmacists a model of how they 
may effectively instruct their apprentices, and, finally, 



iv PREFACE 

to teach the younger ones how to learn and study, and 
how to apply book-learning to their daily work. 

The volume therefore commends itself to all those 
young men who, by force of circumstances, are deprived 
of the benefits of college education, and must work 
their way through the intricacies of the various branches 
of pharmacy by home study. It will show them how 
to understand books of learning, and create in them 
the desire to know more than the mere names or doses 
of the drugs and chemicals which they handle every 
day. It will teach them that there is nothing so small 
and insignificant in pharmacy that its source and his- 
tory may not be profitably made the subject of research, 
and will give them the first glimpse — even if only a 
cursory one — into the unimagined beauties and treas- 
ures of scientific knowledge. 

The student who, after preliminary instruction, com- 
pletes his education in a pharmaceutical college before 
entering on actual work may, with equal advantage, use 
this book. It will assist him in many practical diffi- 
culties, and show him how to utilize theoretical knowl- 
edge. He will soon cease to look upon his merely 
practically taught brother with pity or derision, and he 
will be brought to the admission that the technical 
skill and deftness peculiarly requisite in pharmacy are 
accomplishments that must be learned by experience 
behind the counter. 

Not only the young pharmacists, however, but pos- 
sibly also my older brethren, may profit by reading 



PREFACE v 

these pages. Not that I pretend to be able to teach 
them airy thing new : there is nothing in this book that 
every pharmacist should not know ; indeed, all that is 
written therein has actually happened, and may happen 
again, in the daily routine of many pharmacists. But 
efficiently to impart knowledge and enthusiasm to their 
apprentices and clerks ; to teach them not only to become 
skilful pharmacists, but also to love their profession, — 
this is a gift that not all possess, and which but few 
practise. Let this book find opportunity to be a guide 
for such proprietors, and let its true story imbue them 
with faith in the great pleasure and satisfaction which 
is to be derived from patiently instructing the rising 
generation, and thus preparing them to become, in their 
day, more efficient, more faithful, and more advanced 
pharmacists than we are. 

At the same time, if I should succeed in showing 
the reader that, in spite of all common drudgery and 
serious difficulties, the profession of pharmacy has its 
desirable features, and can be practised with attachment 
and devotion, — if I should be able to arouse in my 
confreres that love for their daily task which alone can 
compensate for the many privations we must suffer, and 
which is also the surest road to success, — I will feel 
amply rewarded. 

The Author. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. — The Laboratory — Powdering Drugs — Com- 
pound Liquorice Powder — Sieves . c . . . 5 

II. — Prescriptions in Powder Form — Criticism of 
Prescriptions — Confidence in Pharmaceu- 
tical Work — Deliquescence and Efflores- 
cence — Prescription-Sieve — Official Pow- 
ders 20 

III. — Compound Tincture of Cinchona — Purity of 
Drugs — Percolation and Maceration — 
Tinctures from Fluid Extracts 38 

IV. — Drummers — Accommodating the Public — Offi- 
cial Tinctures — Classification of Tinc- 
tures — Turbiditt of Tinctures 57 

V.— Incompatibles— Fluid Extracts— Water-Bath 
— Kegaining Alcohol— Distillation— Subli- 
mation — Solid Extracts — Standardization 
— Oleoresin — Discipline 76 

VI.— The Office— Order— Directory of Sundries — 

Advertising among Physicians 92 

VII.— Cleaning Bottles — Crystals — Expansion — 
Barometer— Benzin and Naphtha— Giving 
Information — Displacement — Abstract 
Knowledge and Practical Application . . 101 

vii 



viii CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

VIII. — Infusion-Jar — Empties — Cleaning Bottles 
— Economy — Infusum Digitalis — Old- 
Fashioned Prescriptions — N on-Luminous 
Flames — Decoctions — Latin Prescrip- 
tions — Strainers 113 

IX. — Medicated Waters— Odor in Drug-Stores 
— Emulsions — Mucilages — Measuring Oils 
— Nauseating Mixtures ......... 131 

X. — Weighing Tolu — Syrup of Tolu — Medi- 
cated Syrups — Souring of Syrups — Gly- 
cerites — Solutions — Mixtures — Preju- 
dice in Medicine 141 

XI. — Liquor Ferri Chloridi — Pharmaceutical 
Chemistry — Testing — Official Liquors — 
Weight and Measure of Liquids .... 154 

XII. — The Metric System — The Metre — The Sterb 

— The Gramme — The Kilogramme .... 163 

XIII. — Symbols in the Metric System — Metric 
Prescription — Mistakes in writing Pre- 
scriptions — Conversion of Weight into 
Measure 175 

XIV.— Sick-Koom Appliances — Unpaid Bills — 
Queer Customers — Medicated Spirits — 
Test- Odors — Aromatic Spirits of Ammonia 
— Official Wines 186 

XV. — Elixirs— Kevisions of the " Pharmacopoeia" 

— Prominent Men — Adulterations . . . 201 

XVI.— Specific Gravity— The Pound— Determining 
Specific Gravity — Adhesion — Hydrom- 
eter 212 



CONTENTS ix 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XVII. — Preparation of Pills— Poisons — Excipients 
— pill-kollers — nicknames — capsules — 
Pill-Mass — Laziness 227 

XVIII. — Dispensing in Capsules — Capsule-Filler — 
Source of Aloes and Asafetida — Prop- 
erties of Plants 245 

XIX. — Official Pills — Excipients — Carbolic Acid 
Pills — Coating of Pills — Masses — Beady- 
Made Pills and Tablets — Confections — 
Troches , 257 

XX. — A Kush — Information to Customers — An- 
swering Questions — Quick and Quiet 
Work — Liniments — Base of Liniments — 
Oleates 272 

XXI. — Prescription-Piles — Kecord of Business- 
Confidence — Doctors and Customers . . 282 

XXII. — Salves — Skilful Manipulation — Cerates — 
Ointments — Difficult Ointment Prescrip- 
tions — Ointment Filler — Benzoinated 
Lard 292 

XXIII. — Want-Book — Modified Formula — Alliga- 
tion — Graphic Kepresentation — Despond- 
ent Customers 302 

XXIV. — Plaster- Making — Official Plasters — An 
Old Acquaintance — Non-Secrets — Passed 
Examinations — Starting in Business — 
Broader Views — Character 316 



THE 



PHARMACIST AT WORK. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE LABORATORY — POWDERING DRUGS — COMPOUND 
LIQUORICE POWDER — SIEVES. 

" This is hard work," said the Junior to the Pro- 
prietor, wiping the perspiration from his forehead ; 
"I did not think that it would be so tedious to 
powder camphor." 

"If you had had some experience in powdering 
drugs," replied the Proprietor, "you would have fin- 
ished your work in less time and with less labor. In 
the beginning, you put too much alcohol in the mortar, 
so that the mixture was too moist and could not be 
powdered ; you then added too much camphor, and 
continued to make these mistakes for half an hour. 
In powdering drugs, you must never take more than 
a small quantity at a time ; for the first powdered lot 
will act like an elastic layer around or under the 
coarser parts and protect them against the action of 
the pestle, and if, then, you use more power, you drive 

5 



6 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

the finer particles off into the air. I did not wish to 
interfere ; for I thought that, coming from a well- 
known pharmacy, where you spent two years, you 
were familiar with the nature of camphor." 

"I must confess," said the young man, who had 
been engaged by this Proprietor only a few days 
before, "that this is my first attempt at powdering 
camphor or any other drug." 

The room where this conversation took place was 
a spacious laboratory, connected with the pharmacy 
by a sliding door, which usually stood open, so that 
the Proprietor as well as his assistants could easily 
step from one room to the other. The morning 
hours, when business was comparatively dull, were 
mostly employed in making some galenical prepara- 
tion ; and the Proprietor always instructed the younger 
clerks in such laboratory work, — watching each step of 
the process, — explaining and commenting, showing, 
whenever necessary, how to handle pestle and gradu- 
ate, and himself preparing only such things as re- 
quired the skill of a more experienced hand. 

" You said you never powdered camphor formerly," 
continued the Proprietor. " Who, then, did such work, 
if not the junior clerks?" 

" Nobody ; we bought it powdered, like everything 
else." 

" Did you not make your own fluid extracts and 
tinctures ?" 

"No, sir; everything came into the store ready- 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 7 

made. In fact, we had no place to make preparations ; 
there was hardly room enough behind the prescription- 
counter to turn around ; and our chief business was the 
sale of soda water and toilet articles. And, indeed," 
he added, hesitatingly, " could not every pharmacy be 
conducted without a laboratory just as well?" 

" Decidedly not !" said the Proprietor, emphatically. 
" A variety bazaar can be established and conducted in 
that way, but not a pharmacy." 

The Junior did not contradict, but his doubtful eyes 
betrayed his mind. 

The Proprietor read his thoughts ; and, wishing 
that all his employees should share his own views on 
the profession which he cherished highest of all earthly 
goods, he at once embraced the opportunity to en- 
lighten the young man and lead him towards the right 
way. 

"Tell me," he said, a have you not learned more 
about camphor during the last hour than you ever 
knew before ?" 

" Well — yes," was the reply ; " I certainly learned 
a good deal. But, on the other hand, what is saved 
by powdering it here in the laboratory? — does the 
small saving pay for the time and labor ?" 

The Proprietor answered : " The saving is really 
the smallest of the advantages of the laboratory, al- 
though it is in some cases not inconsiderable. The 
principal advantage is the purity of the preparations 
thus attainable and the positive knowledge of their 



8 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

purity and exactness. Here, for instance, we used 
half an ounce of magnesium carbonate to the pound 
of camphor, or about three per cent. Xow, in the 
commercial powdered camphor a much larger per- 
centage of magnesia is sometimes added : and how 
great is the temptation to do so, when camphor costs 
four times as much as magnesia ! Some time as;o. in 
controversy with a friend on this subject, I ordered a 
pound of powdered camphor from a wholesale house 
in good repute, and separated the camphor from the 
adulterant by dissolving it in alcohol and filtering the 
undissolved magnesia off. After drying and weighing 
the residue. I found as much as thirty-five per cent. 
of magnesia. Could any one after such a discovery 
continue to buy powdered camphor and remain an 
honest dispenser and careful pharmacist?" 

The Junior had meanwhile cleaned mortar and 
pestle by using a few cubic centimetres of alcohol ; 
but the Proprietor, growing warm on his subject, con- 
tinued : " The laboratory is my favorite abode ; here I 
spend the happiest hours of my business life ; what I 
see around me is my own. not only because I paid for 
it. but because most of these preparations are the re- 
sult of my experience, my ability, my labor. In 
stating the composition of this tincture or the strength 
of that fluid extract. I do not repeat the assertions of 
some travelling salesman or simply read off the printed 
labels of some manufacturer. No ! I give a record 
of my own work, my care, my patience and perse- 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 9 

verance. The contents of these packages and bottles 
are dear to me, because I created them ; they tell the 
history of my daily life, and their, perfection is a testi- 
monial to my knowledge of and my devotion to my 
profession. And as we always learn by teaching, so 
do we also increase our skill and knowledge by using 
them in compounding our own preparations. The 
properties of drugs become known to us, not through 
inert statements of books, but, as it were, through 
living voices, that speak to us and tell us their origin, 
their history, their use and application. Thus, the 
laboratory gives us a continuous schooling towards 
our own perfection, more eloquent than learned pro- 
fessors, plainer and clearer than the most powerful 
language. It teaches us to discern the pure from the 
adulterated, the good from the bad, and trains us to 
reach the highest degree of care and exactness so 
necessary in the discharge of our duties." 

After a pause, he contiuued : " How manifold are the 
reflections that occur to the thinking workers in the 
laboratory ! In handling the various drugs he travels 
on the wings of the mind from land to land ; he crosses 
oceans and mountains; he picks a shrub from the 
rocks of the Andes and in the next minute wanders 
through the plains of Persia ; he descends into the 
depths of the earth for glistening minerals, and rises 
to the tops of snow-crowned peaks to hunt for lichens 
and mosses. There is no barrier, no limit. And all 
this is not the idle fancy of an overstrung brain, but 



10 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

the systematic journey of a reasoning mind, asking 
each drug its origin and home. Tell me, my young 
friend, what thoughts had you while you powdered 
the camphor?" 

The Junior blushed and found no answer. The 
enthusiasm of his employer was to him a phenomenon 
so unexpected, so sudden, and so entirely different from 
anything that he had been accustomed to meet in phar- 
macy, that these words appeared to him like a revela- 
tion ; he was unable to entirely follow the old man 
before him, who, with his sparkling eyes and impres- 
sive speech, seemed to be much younger than before. 
But he suddenly became conscious of a beauty and 
grandeur in his profession which before he had never 
been aware of. 

"I do not know " he stammered. 

"Let me tell you," interrupted the Proprietor, 
" what I was thinking of when, years ago, I had to pow- 
der camphor myself. First, my thoughts carried me 
to Asia, the home of camphor. I now again imagine 
myself there. From China I cross to Japan, and far- 
ther south to the island of Formosa, the richest ground 
of the camphor-tree. I enter the virgin forests where 
this evergreen tree abounds. Its growth reminds me 
of the linden, with a thick, straight trunk, branching 
above manifold, covered with a smooth, greenish bark. 
The small, white, clustered flowers exhale the odor of 
camphor ; some have already formed the fruit, — a red 
berry. I admire the magnificent foliage of smooth- 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 11 

ribbed, lanceolate leaves, bright green above and paler 
below. I watch the natives chip the tree and gather 
the leaves. They heat them in a roughly-constructed 
still, after having covered them with water. The 
steam that rises carries with it the sublimed camphor, 
which is deposited in crude earthen vessels. The cam- 
phor is then shipped in baskets to the trading-places ; 
and I see before me, in Canton, representatives of all 
civilized nations bargaining with the wily Mongols for 
this valuable product. The ship is laden ; I go aboard ; 
auchor is weighed ; we sail south, touching at Batavia, 
where another quantity is added to the cargo, — called 
Dutch camphor, after the people who control its mar- 
ket. It is, like the former, in granular masses, but of 
a pinkish color, and valued higher because it is purer. 
Now we sail home ; the crude camphor is brought to 
New York and Philadelphia, where it is purified in 
extensive refineries, and finally comes into the market 
in large, circular plates of one or two inches' thickness. 
All this appears to me while I inhale the aromatic 
vapor. But my thoughts not only travel back, but 
also forward. From my store I follow the camphor 
into the houses of my customers. I see some of it put 
into boxes and trunks to keep moths from attacking 
valuable furs and clothes ; some dissolved in alcohol, 
to form camphor spirit and other liniments for the 
lame and sick ; and some of it, the powdered, reaches 
the mournful chamber of the unfortunate who is stricken 
with pneumonia. My imagination sees the nurse pre- 



12 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

pare the poultice of which camphor is an important 
ingredient ; and, by the proper use and correct strength 
of this powder, a human life may be saved. And, 
knowing this, can you be careless and indifferent as to 
the degree of its purity ? Is it mere sentimentality to 
think of this, or is it the consciousness of your respon- 
sibility that directs your thoughts ? And, thus think- 
ing, the work progresses without effort, and you are 
surprised that, by the time your thoughts return home, 
the powdered camphor is before you." 

After a while the Junior broke the silence, saying: 

" That is certainly a beautiful way to work, but not 
every one can do it. How many are there that know 
all this about every drug?" 

" Is not this your guide ?" replied the Proprietor, 
pointing to a dispensatory that lay on the table. " If 
you know nothing about a drug, should not the task of 
handling it fill you with the desire to learn something 
about it ? Open the book while you powder the drug 
and let your eyes run over the lines, or, if your full 
attention is required in the work, read up the subject 
soon afterwards. What you read and learn on such 
occasions will remain your oavii for all your life." 

" I am sincerely thankful," said the Junior, " and 
will try to follow your instructions." 

" Why did you not put all the camphor into the 
stock-bottle?" asked the Proprietor, pointing to a 
small paper in which was some of the powder. 

" W 7 hen I cleaned the prescription-counter this morn- 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 13 

ing," said the Junior, " I noticed that the bottle labelled 
' Camphor' did not contain any powder, but small pieces 
of camphor, aud I thought I could take them out and 
replace them by some of this powdered camphor." 

The Proprietor smiled and said : " I am glad to see 
that you observe ; it is one of the most necessary quali- 
fications of a pharmacist to see not only with his eyes 
but also with his understanding, as you have done in 
this instance. How r ever, in this case, you nevertheless 
went w r rong, for, as you know, our powdered camphor 
contains three per cent, of magnesia, is therefore not 
pure, and should not be used for prescription work." 

" It was always done thus in my former position," 
interposed the Junior. 

" Now you see," said the Proprietor, " to what care- 
less practices the indiscriminate buying of ready-made 
goods will lead. The commercial powdered camphor 
sometimes contains, as I have shown, as much as 
thirty-five per cent, of adulterants, and may contain 
more. If we should use it in prescriptions the patient 
would get only two-thirds of the amount of camphor 
that the physician prescribed. As a consequence, the 
medicine would not have the expected effect, and phy- 
sician and patient would gradually lose their confidence 
in the pharmacist. Moreover, consider the moral 
wrong involved in giving the confiding customer in- 
ferior or ineffective medicine." 

After the Junior had replaced the small particles of 
camphor into the bottle, his eye caught the various 



14 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

pharmaceutical apparatus that stood along the opposite 
walls of the laboratory, among which there were two 
drug-mills, one small one for hand-power and a large 
one driven by an electric motor. 

" Why could we not have powdered the camphor in 
the mill ?" he asked. 

"On account of its tendency to clog; instead of 
running through the mill as fine powder it would have 
clogged the grinding wheels. This is often, although 
in a smaller degree, the case with other drugs, — es- 
pecially when they are moist, — and it takes some ex- 
perience to handle the mill properly. Often a drug 
has to be ground repeatedly, setting the mill finer every 
time. In using the same mill for various drugs great 
care should be taken to clean each part of the mill 
after each operation, so that small particles of one drug 
are not mixed with the next one." 

" Compound liquorice powder must be made !" 
shouted the Senior clerk, coming through the door 
from the store. " I just sold a pound, and the 
stock-bottle is nearly empty." Going through the 
laboratory he looked into several jars and cans, 
and, handing the Junior a slip of paper, he added, 
"Here is a formula : ' Senna (No. 80), 180; liquorice 
(No. 80), 236 ; washed sulphur, 80 ; oil of fennel, 4 ; 
sugar, 500 grammes/ You had better make five 
kilos. But our sugar is almost out, and we shall not 
get another barrel before night. Here, boy," he said, 
addressing a lad who was washing bottles at a sink in 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 15 

a corner of the laboratory, " run and get some pow- 
dered sugar." 

" How much shall I get ?" asked the boy. 

" Let me see ; about five or six pounds." 

"How much?" 

" About five or six pounds ; can't you hear ?" 

The boy hesitated a second and looked inquiringly 
at the Proprietor, who said, in a quiet but decided 
way, " Get six pounds." 

While the Senior returned to the store, the Pro- 
prietor addressed the Junior : " Now, remember what 
I told you ; and, when you mix the ingredients, try to 
think of the nature of the drugs that you handle, and 
your work will be much easier." 

" Will you not show me how to incorporate the oil 
with the powder ?" 

"I will return directly," said the Proprietor; 
" meanwhile weigh out the different ingredients, taking 
five times the quantities marked on that slip." 

With these words he followed the Senior into the 
store. After ascertaining that no customer was present 
who might hear him, he said :" You made a mistake 
in giving the quantities." 

"I beg your pardon, sir," interrupted the Senior, 
somewhat excitedly, with the air of authority that 
college students are apt to assume when they ap- 
proach their final examination. " I looked the for- 
mula up in the ( Pharmacopoeia/ and I know that it is 
correct." 



16 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

" You made another mistake just now," replied the 
Proprietor, quietly. 

The Senior looked at him in surprise. 

" Will you kindly tell me what you mean ?" His 
voice sounded less assured than before. 

" Your second mistake consisted in interrupting me 
and refuting a charge that I had not made," said the 
Proprietor ; and after a short silence he added : " And 
your first mistake was the order for sugar that you 
gave the boy. Instead of ordering a definite quantity, 
you said ' five or six pounds/ leaving it to him to 
decide what to do." 

" But it was really of no account. I believe five 
pounds would have been enough ; for, adding what 
little we have left, we would have had two and a half 
kilos, and some to spare." 

u It was of no account as far as the sugar was con- 
cerned ; but of great account as far as the boy's esti- 
mate of your ability is concerned. A man in our pro- 
fession must not be vague and undecided, or he will 
never gain public confidence. Have you never been 
provoked by the customer who asks for ' Glycerin, — 
about ten or twenty cents' worth' ? If you give him 
ten cents' worth, he will say, l That is too little ; put 
some more in ;' and if you give him twenty cents' 
worth, he will say, ' That is too much ; I guess half of 
it will do.' And yet you practise his faults yourself. 
If a mother asks you how much syrup of rhubarb she 
shall give her child, you may say, i Oh, about a tea- 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 



17 



spoonful, or half a one ; it does not matter/ You 
may be right in respect to the dose, but you are greatly 
wrong in respect to your reputation. That mother 
thinks of nothing at the time but her child's health, 
and when she comes home and tries to give the child 
the rhubarb, the vagueness of your answer at once 
comes to her consciousness so powerfully that she will 
be likely never to ask you another question nor to buy 
another ounce of syrup of rhubarb from you. Let 
there never be a doubt about the meaning of your 
words ; such looseness is bad in every position, but 
especially so with a physician or pharmacist. The 
sick and afflicted look for a decided voice and firm 
hand to guide them ; do not disappoint them by 
indecision." 

The boy now returned with the sugar and handed 
it to the Junior, who had meanwhile weighed the 
liquorice, senna, and sulphur, and presently also 
weighed the sugar. The Proprietor, stepping back 
into the laboratory, directed the Junior to put some of 
the sugar into the large porcelain mortar, and then to 
add the oil of fennel, drop by drop, constantly stirring. 
While this was being done, he said : 

" Whenever it is required to incorporate a volatile 
oil with a mixture of powders, you must first mix the 
oil with the powder of the greatest absorptivity ; in 
this case the sugar. Should you, for instance, mix the 
oil with the sulphur, the friction of the pestle would, 
indeed, divide it very finely; but the small particles 



18 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

of the oil would not be absorbed by the sulphur, and 
would consequently be driven off into the air by evap- 
oration ; the whole laboratory would strongly smell of 
fennel, and the inexperienced clerk would say, ' Ah ! 
that is a strong preparation ; how it smells of fennel ! ? 
whereas, in reality, a large quantity of the fennel 
would be lost. We now add the remaining sugar and 
the other ingredients, and continue to stir until a 
uniformly one-colored powder is obtained." 

" Shall I now fill this powder into the stock-bottle V 
asked the Junior after a while. 

" Not yet. Sieve it through a No. 60 sieve before 
storing it." 

The Junior went to the side of the laboratory, where 
he saw a number of sieves hanging in a row; but, 
being entirely unacquainted with the various imple- 
ments, could not decide which one to take. The Pro- 
prietor came to his assistance and explained : " A No. 
60 sieve is one that has sixty meshes to the linear inch. 
You see here is a No. 20, a rather coarse one ; this is 
No. 40 and this 60. The figures on the side of the 
frame are almost obliterated ; but every pharmacist 
of some experience can tell the different sizes without 
looking at the label or counting the meshes." 

The Junior took the sieve and used it. "I should 
think," he said, " that if the powders are all pure and 
of the proper grade, sieving again would not be neces- 
sary." 

" Theoretically, you are right," replied the Proprie- 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 19 

tor ; " but practice teaches us that this additional care 
is necessary. In the first place, there sometimes re- 
main, in spite of the greatest care and continuous stir- 
ring, small lumps of some powder, — for instance, sul- 
phur, — which will be detected on the sieve; and, 
secondly, when bought ready powdered (which you 
sometimes can't help doing), these powders may con- 
tain particles of the plant from which they come, or 
splinters of wood from the barrels in which they were 
shipped, or other accidental contaminations. All these 
must be removed. Now, after finishing the powder 
and cleaning the sieve, spend half an hour in reading 
about senna, liquorice, fennel, and sulphur, and you will 
have not only learned how to make compound liquorice 
powder, but also acquired a considerable amount of 
theoretical knowledge." 



CHAPTER II. 

PRESCRIPTIONS IN POWDER FORM — CRITICISM OF 
PRESCRIPTIONS CONFIDENCE IN PHARMACEUTI- 
CAL WORK DELIQUESCENCE AND EFFLORESCENCE 

PRESCRIPTION SIEVE — OFFICIAL POWDERS. 

When the Proprietor returned to the store he found 
an elder assistant of his, who acted as manager during 
the owner's absence, engaged in preparing a prescrip- 
tion, and the Senior, in a mild state of excitement, 
arguing with him. Seeing the Proprietor, the Senior 
addressed him at once, showing him the prescription 
in question. 

" Will you kindly decide, sir, if I am wrong? I 
claim that the fine powder should be used in this 
case." 

The Proprietor took the prescription and read : 

R Potass. Nitr., 1; 

Fol. Stramonii, 90 ; 

Fol. Digitalis, 5. 
M. et ft. pulv. No. 1. 
Sig. — " Burn and inhale, or smoke in a pipe." 

The Proprietor looked at the Senior and asked, 
"Did you ever smoke snuff?" 

This question confused the Senior, and he at once 
saw his mistake ; but, not wishing to acknowledge it, 
20 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 21 

he replied : " Would the fine powder not burn much 
quicker ?" 

" Perhaps it would ; but the object of the prescrip- 
tion is not to prepare a quickly burning powder, but 
to enable an asthmatic patient to inhale as much as 
possible of the smoke. How did you prepare it?" he 
asked the Manager. 

" I first rubbed a little more than ninety grammes 
of stramonium leaves between my hands over a piece 
of paper, breaking and crushing them geutly. Then I 
removed the unbroken ribs, and broke again the larger 
pieces of the leaves. After weighing ninety grammes 
of the very coarse powder, I put it aside, throwing 
away the little that was left. The same operation I per- 
formed with the digitalis, weighing five grammes of it, 
and adding it to the stramonium. The saltpetre I pow- 
dered separately in a porcelain mortar, and sprinkled 
it on the broken leaves. Then I mixed it all carefully 
by my fingers and put it into a box. Here it is." 

The Senior, being inflated by a feeling of infalli- 
bility, was badly grieved that he should be wrong, 
and looked around for an object on which to unload 
his anger and disappointment. His eyes fell on the 
prescription, the innocent cause of the trouble, and, 
pointing to the third item on it, he said, somewhat 
sneeringly ; " I'd like to know what digitalis leaves 
have to do in this combination. Who ever heard that 
they will relieve asthma ? We might just as well have 
left them out." 



22 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

The Proprietor replied: " Aside from the fact that 
there may be many things that you do not know yet, 
I would remind you that a pharmacist's examination 
of physicians' prescriptions should never go further 
than to ascertain if the limit of safety has been ex- 
ceeded, or if there be some chemical incompatibility. 
In that case we confer w T ith the doctor. All other 
criticism on our part is wrong, and even harmful. 
The presence of digitalis in this powder is not injuri- 
ous ; and the thought that the physician has ordered 
something useless should not enter your mind." 

" But suppose," retorted the Senior, who was bound 
to gain at least one small point in this controversy, 
"that the customer should ask what digitalis leaves 
are for ; would you not tell him that they were use- 
less?" 

" How do you know that they are ? The physician 
knows his patient, and also the prescribed drugs ; and 
if his judgment and experience make him order fox- 
glove in this combination, all doubt or dispute from 
the pharmacist's side should be at rest. Medical con- 
ventions or journals are the places to argue such ques- 
tions, but not a pharmaceutical laboratory. But even 
admitting that they were useless, what can I gain by 
telling the patient so, and thereby shaking his confi- 
dence in his physician ? He either believes me, and I 
have made the physician my enemy, or he does not 
believe me, and hence will consider me an idle talker 
and prater, and take his pationage to some pharmacist 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 23 

of more common sense. The maxim, ' Mind your own 
business/ cannot be too often impressed on young 
pharmacists, who are often ready to neglect their own 
and manage — or, rather, mismanage — the physician's 
business." 

The Senior was cut short in his next attempted 
reply by a customer who entered the store at this mo- 
ment. It was a rule in this pharmacy never to allow 
any controversy, or even friendly argument, in the 
presence of a customer, lest the latter might misunder- 
stand its meaning, and imbibe the idea that there ex- 
isted some doubt on a prescription or other important 
matter. If any explanations had to be given, they 
were made in the laboratory, away from the hearing 
of outsiders. 

" Is the doctor in ?" asked the customer of the Sen- 
ior, who had gone to wait on him. By this title, so 
familiar to most pharmacists, the Proprietor was called 
by many customers. 

" Yes, sir," replied the Senior, grumblingly. " What 
do you want of him ?" 

" I have here two prescriptions " 

" Well, I can put them up," said the Senior. 

" That may be," replied the customer ; " but I would 
rather have them prepared by the doctor himself." 

The Proprietor, overhearing the conversation, stepped 
forward, and, after exchanging a few friendly words 
with the customer, took the prescription and invited 
him to take a seat. 



24 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

" I have another errand/' said the customer, " and 
will be back in about an hour." 

The Senior's bad humor was far from being subdued 
by this disregard of his importance, and, although he 
refrained from expressing his feelings, his wrinkled 
forehead and sour features betrayed them openly. 

"You should not feel offended at the customer's 
words," said the Proprietor. " He did not doubt your 
ability at all, but preferred to intrust the work to a 
man whom he has known for many years." 

" Yes, that is all right," grumbled the Senior ; " but 
it certainly is not pleasant to be treated in this way 
after having spent two years in college, studying from 
morning till night." 

"You will see that something more than college 
education is required to make a successful pharmacist. 
In the first place, experience, and, secondly, the confi- 
dence and esteem of your fellow-men. How to gain 
these cannot be taught in a college ; such qualities are 
an art, an accomplishment, an ability, or whatever you 
may call it, that can be practised alike by the most 
ignorant and by the most learned ; they are the result 
of your individual thoughts, words, and actions. Like 
a seed, capable of producing the most wonderful fruit, 
the possibility of practising this art is given to every 
human being with his birth. He may either develop 
or crush it. Truly, the soil on which the seed falls 
will either retard or quicken its growth. The sur- 
roundings at home, the influence of loving parents and 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 25 

devoted teachers, — or, on the other hand, the atmos- 
phere of hatred and vice, — have much to do with its 
first germination ; but the main cultivation of this 
plant is its possessor himself. Happy is he, no matter 
in what sphere he lives, who recognizes its importance 
in early years. In the heartless struggles of practical 
life, in the strife for recognition, it is a powerful ally ; 
in the time of calamity, when your mind is depressed 
and dark despair hovers at your door, it comforts and 
raises you like a loving friend ; in the triumphant 
hour of success it is the crowning laurel of your re- 
ward. So far you have had little time and opportunity 
to think of this ; for some years you have worked 
faithfully in your profession. The goal before you 
was the diploma of your college ; for this you strove 
and worked. And it is right that you value it highly, 
that you consider it a prize worthy of your best efforts, 
to be gained not by chance or luck, but by your own 
energy and mental perseverance. But what you did 
so far was only the fulfilment of a strictly defined duty ; 
others laid out the road that you travelled. Soon a 
different state will exist for you ; you will then assume 
your own responsibility, depend on your own resources ; 
and at once it will become apparent to you that the 
time to observe, to learn, to acquire ability, is far from 
being past, and that something of greater importance 
and weight than mere knowledge must be gained. Life 
is often compared to a ship. Call, then, the profes- 
sional education the ' sail.' Its size and strength will 



26 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

command admiration. But more than a flowing sail 
is wanted to win the race. The confidence and esteem 
of your fellow men, indispensable especially in our 
profession, is the ship's ' rudder ;' and the sail and rud- 
der both must be guided by the firm hand of experi- 
ence. The rough but experienced boatsman who, in 
an emergency, constructs a crude sail, perhaps out of 
a torn garment, will often outsail the elegant boat with 
the most approved sailing apparatus, but without proper 
guidance. So the steady, industrious business man, 
without much education, will surpass the most refined 
graduate who lacks moral strength. We meet them 
every day, such misguided unfortunates, wrecked, 
homeless, penniless. But let us go to our work." 

He put the two prescriptions that he held in his 
hand on the counter, and allowed the clerks, whom 
the Junior had by this time joined, to read them. 

The first was : 

R Morph. Sulph., gr. ii ; 

Pepsin. Pur., ^ss ; 

Pancreat. Pur. , gss ; 

Bism. Subnit., giii. 
M et divid. in chart. No. xii. 
Sig. — " One powder every three hours." 

The other was : 

R Caffeinse, gr. xxx ; 

Kali Acet., 

Kali Citr., aa giii. 
M. et. div. in chart. No. xii. 
Sig. — " One powder, as directed." 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 27 

" How would you prepare them ?" he asked the 
Senior. 

" I see no difficulties there," was the reply. " Weigh 
the ingredients, mix them, and divide them into 
powders." 

" Are no special precautions necessary ?" 

The Senior pondered awhile, and said: 

"Of course, you want to triturate the morphine 
carefully with the other ingredients, so as to distribute 
it well. In putting up the individual powders, each 
should be weighed separately, on account of the 
strongly active ingredient, — morphine." 

" Your suggestions are right as to the first prescrip- 
tion, which needs thorough and long trituration," said 
the Proprietor ; u but the second one needs different 
treatment. The acetate and citrate of potassium are 
both very deliquescent salts, — that is, they easily 
attract moisture from the air, and the more so in the 
powdered state : hence they will, on lively trituration, 
form a moist magma. Care should, therefore, be taken 
to have them both perfectly dry before powdering; 
then cautiously powder them separately ; add the caf- 
feine to the acetate, and triturate again very carefully 
until all the fleecy, flexible crystals of the former have 
been well broken; and, finally, add the citrate, and 
mix with a horn spatula for a long while, avoiding 
pressure. When finished, the powders of this prescrip- 
tion should be wrapped in waxed paper." 

" Ah ! I see," exclaimed the Senior, approvingly ; 



28 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

"that is the same thing as mixing lead acetate and 
zinc sulphate. We had that in our quiz last night; 
they also form a moist powder." 

The Proprietor smiled, and said : " It is the same in 
both cases, as far as the moisture is concerned ; but the 
causes are quite different. In your example there is 
no deliquescence, both chemicals being rather efflores- 
cent, — that means they lose some of their water of crys- 
tallization on exposure to the air. But in triturating 
them energetically a chemical decomposition takes 
place, the two bases mutually exchanging their re- 
spective acids, and thereby liberating some of their 
water of crystallization, in which, the zinc sulphate is 
particularly rich." 

" Why do we wrap the powder of this prescription 
in waxed paper ?" asked the Senior. 

"In order to exclude the air, which always contains 
more or less water, and prevent deliquescence. The 
waxed paper is impervious to moisture and will pre- 
serve their contents longer than ordinary paper. The 
name ' waxed paper 5 is, however, improper. Formerly 
paper was dipped in melted beeswax and thereby 
made water-proof; but this method has long been 
abandoned, paraffin having taken the place of wax. 
The paper thus prepared is more durable than the 
old-fashioned waxed paper ; it will assume no odor on 
keeping and has more resistant power towards various 
chemicals, besides being of better appearance. An- 
other paper much used for similar purposes is parch- 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 29 

ment-paper, so called from its resemblance to parch- 
ment. It is made by treating unsized paper with a 
mixture of sulphuric acid and water, and is in some 
respects superior to paraffin-paper. The name ( waxed 
paper' is, however, still often used indiscriminately for 
these various kinds. But let us now prepare our pre- 
scription before the customer returns. Although I 
promised to compound them myself, I do not consider 
it a breach of this promise to instruct you how to clo it, 
while I overlook the work." 

And turning to the Senior, he added : " You take 
the second prescription, mixing the ingredients as I 
directed before, while I write the label. " 

This work was soon done, and the Senior was about 
to lay out twelve paraffin papers for the powders, when 
the Proprietor interrupted him with the words :" Par- 
affin-paper by itself does not make a nice-looking 
package, owing to its thinness and flexibility. I pre- 
fer to have another paper around each powder. This 
is best done by laying out the regular powder- papers 
first and placing over each a paraffin paper. We then 
fold both papers together, and thereby obtain a neat 
package. How many grains should each powder 
contain ?" 

The Senior replied : " There are three hundred and 
ninety grains altogether; this, divided by twelve, 
makes thirty-two and a half grains. Shall I weigh 
each powder separately ?" 

" Certainly," replied the Proprietor. " You will 



30 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

thereby not only insure accuracy, but also obtain prac- 
tice in exact weighing, which is of prime importance 
among the manipulations in our business. I confess 
that it always proved a source of satisfaction to me 
when I found that the last powder weighed the exact 
calculated amount." 

The Manager had meanwhile weighed the ingre- 
dients of the first prescription, and invited the Junior, 
who had entered from the laboratory, to mix them. 
The latter, full of zeal and energy, seized the pestle, 
and, before he had moved it around twice, some of the 
very finely powdered pepsin flew out of the mortar. 

" More carefully, please," said the Proprietor. " In 
this case there is nothing to be crushed, and the mixing 
will be done better by a gentle but steady motion than 
by an excess of physical force. From these two in- 
stances in preparing medical powders you will see 
how necessary it is to have the full force of your 
mind directed to your work, and use your powers 
of reflection at each successive step. Practice and 
experience help one over many difficulties, but they 
will never suffice entirely to supplant rightly directed 
thought." 

After the powders had been properly prepared, 
packed in boxes, wrapped, and the name of the cus- 
tomer with the price written on the outer wrapper, the 
Junior, wishing to show how he had profited by the 
instruction of his preceptor, asked: " You told me this 
morning that in preparing a compound powder the 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 31 

last step of the operation should be sifting. Why did 
you not sift the powders of these prescriptions ?" 

The Proprietor replied: "Although general direc- 
tions are given how to prepare pharmaceutical com- 
pounds, yet there are hardly two preparations that can 
be treated exactly alike. Drugs and chemicals are like 
individuals. When a child, you were taught how to 
meet and address grown people, and the rules of re- 
finement and courtesy were impressed upon your mind. 
But when you grew up, you soon discovered that, 
although those rules are correct, in a general way, yet 
each individual has to be approached differently, on 
account of peculiar whims and incliuations. The suc- 
cessful man in public life, as well as in small private 
affairs, like our business, is he who can quickly and 
correctly discover these peculiarities in his fellow-men, 
and in his actions pay due regard to them, without 
forgetting his own self-respect. A pharmacist, there- 
fore, should study human nature to insure success. 
And the same principles apply to the handling of 
drugs and chemicals. We arrange and classify them 
according to general characteristics ; but the members 
of any one such group do not always act alike, and 
their properties show differently under apparently 
equal conditions. There are latent forces in them 
that, like hidden gnomes, seem to be waiting for a 
chance to play a trick on you. The chemist who 
thinks he knows everything and can do his work 
automatically, like a machine, will be an easy prey to 



32 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

these goblins. "Whatever we do, let us keep the object 
of our works in view. In sifting powders, the object 
is the detection and removal of lumpy or partly pow- 
dered pieces or gross accidental contaminations. Now, 
attempt to apply this to our two prescriptions. The 
one containing the deliquescent salts had to be pre- 
pared with the greatest care, to prevent undue pressure 
or friction. By trying to sift the mixed powder, the 
friction of the salts against the meshes of the sieve 
would increase the deliquescence — or, more correctly 
speaking, force the dormant deliquescent tendency into 
action — to such an extent that the powdered form 
would disappear entirely, and a moist magma would 
be the result. Remember, therefore, that deliquescent 
powders should not be sifted, unless proper precaution 
as to temperature and humidity have been taken, as in 
large manufacturing laboratories. The other prescrip- 
tion did not need any sifting, because there were no 
lumps, all the ingredients being in finely powdered 
form before they were mixed. It is different with 
this prescription, that I prepared yesterday." 

He stepped to the prescription-files, and after look- 
ing a few seconds for the desired prescription, pointed 
to the following : 

R Magnes. Sulph. exs., gi; 

Pulv. Sennae, Ji ; 

Pulv. Anisi, ^ss ; 

Sacch. abl., jfii. 
M. et ft. pulvis No. i. 
Sig.— " A heaping teaspoonful before breakfast." 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 33 

" The dried sulphate of magnesium, no matter how 
carefully you keep it, will form small, hard lumps ; 
and the same is true of the sugar. To remove these 
by trituration in a mortar would be a long and tedious 
work. In this case the sieve is not only indispensable 
for detecting them, but also saves time. After sifting 
off the fine parts, the remainder is powdered in a mor- 
tar and, after another sifting, mixed with the first 
quantity, until the whole mixture is uniform." 

" I dislike this repeated sifting," said the Senior ; 
" it is dusty, cumbersome work, and requires an im- 
mense sheet of paper under the sieve to collect all the 
powder." 

The Proprietor replied : " That would be the case 
with large sieves, as they are generally found in the 
shops, but not with this little contrivance." He took 
from the shelf a small object that, at first glance, 
looked like a round, one-pound box with a cover.* 

(Fig.l.) 

"This is what I call my prescription-sieve," he 
said. "It consists, as you see, of three parts. The 
first is a cylinder made of tin-plate, about three inches 
iu diameter and three high, the bottom of which is a 
sieve. The second part is another cylinder, with an 
ordinary bottom, a trifle wider at the top than the 
bottom end of the first one, so that it will slide over it. 
The third part is a closely fitting cover to the first. 

* This prescription-sieve is now made by Whitall, Tatum & Co. 

3 



34 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 



To operate the sifter, we conjoin the two cylinders, so 
that the sieve is about in the middle, put the powder 
on the sieve, and shut down the cover. Now we shake 
the apparatus as violently as we please, and after a 
while remove the lower cylinder, which will then con- 

Fig. 1, 





J> 



tain the sifted powder, while the coarser parts remain 
over the sieve in the upper cylinder. This little sifter 
will also serve as a mixer, by sifting the powders for- 
ward and backward a number of times, stopping the 
operation when all is in the lower cylinder. The 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 35 

sieve that I use here is a No. 40, and is stationary ; 
but the apparatus might just as well be constructed 
with movable sieves, so that different sizes might be 
inserted. By making the cylinders of hard rubber a 
very neat apparatus might be constructed. Of its use- 
fulness it is hardly necessary to speak; the small 
space it occupies, the substitution of the receiving cyl- 
inder for the usual sheet of paper, the total absence of 
dust, the ease with which the powder is collected, and 
the facility of agitating it slowly or violently, as may 
be required, are points that suggest themselves to the 
observer." 

After examining the " prescription-sieve," the Junior 
asked, pointing to the last prescription : " What do the 
letters ' exs' after ' sulphate of magnesium' mean ?" 

" They mean ' exsiccatus/ or dried. The term is ap- 
plied to such salts that by careful heating to a certain 
temperature have been deprived of most of their water 
of crystallization. Some salts, like sulphate of iron 
and sulphate of magnesium, are, on account of their 
high percentage of crystallization water, not adapted 
for powders or pills, and the dried form is, therefore, 
preferred. But in using the one for the other, it must 
not be forgotten that the dose of the dried salt is 
considerably smaller than that of the crystals." 

"Will you tell me," asked the Junior, "if any 
other powders besides compound liquorice powder are 
official?" 

" Why, certainly," replied the Proprietor. " In the 



36 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

first place, nearly all vegetable and most chemical 
drugs are used in powder form, either in prescrip- 
tions or in making various preparations of them. 
If, however, two or more powdered drugs are to be 
mixed and kept ready for use, like the compound 
liquorice powder, we have compound powders which in 
the ' Pharmacopoeia' are described under the name of 
' Pulveres, Powders.' " Turning to the Senior, he 
continued : "-Can you name the official pulveres ?" 

" Yes, sir," replied the Senior. " They are Pulvis 
Antimonialis, or James's powder ; Pulvis Aromaticus ; 
Pulvis Cretse Compositus, or compound chalk powder, 
used to make mixture ; Pulvis Effervescens Composi- 
tus, commonly called Seidlitz powder, and consisting 
of an alkaline and an acid powder; Pulvis Glycyr- 
rhizse Compositus, or compound liquorice powder; 
Pulvis Ipecacuanha? et Opii, or Dover's powder ; Pul- 
vis Jalapse Compositus, consisting of jalap and cream 
of tartar; Pulvis Morphinae Compositus, or Tully's 
powder, claimed to be an improvement on Dover's 
powder; and, finally, Pulvis Rhei Compositus, also 
called Gregory's powder, or rhubarb and magnesia." 

" That was well done," said the Proprietor, " and 
you will notice that most of these powders are named 
after their most important ingredient. They all must 
be prepared with the greatest care, and their medicinal 
action depends greatly on the intimate mixture of the 
various ingredients." 

"There is one question that I would like to ask 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 37 

you," said the Junior : " Why are the two Seidlitz 
powders prepared separately and put in blue and white 
papers ?" 

"When both powders/' replied the Proprietor, 
" are dissolved separately in a little water and the two 
solutions mixed a chemical change takes place. The 
tartaric acid of the white powder decomposes the bi- 
carbonate of soda of the blue one, forming tartrate of 
soda, with the liberation of carbon dioxide, commonly 
called carbonic acid. This is the same gas that, dis- 
solved in water, forms the improperly called 'soda 
water/ so called because carbonate of soda was origi- 
nally used in its manufacture. This gas has a pleasing, 
prickling, and cooling effect, and the solution of the 
salt is thereby swallowed more easily than it would 
be otherwise. You know that some people think that 
the efficacy of the powder depends on this gas. If we 
should mix the two powders and put the mixture in 
one paper, the moisture of the air would slowly but 
surely aid the acid in destroying the molecular com- 
bination of the soda, and the moist powder without 
effervescence would be the result. Papers of different 
colors are used to distinguish the acid from the alka- 
line powder without examination." 



CHAPTEE III. 

COMPOUND TINCTURE OF CINCHONA — PURITY OF 
DRUGS — PERCOLATION AND MACERATION — TINC- 
TURES FROM FLUID EXTRACTS. 

While speaking, the Proprietor's eyes fell on a 
small slate that lay on the table before him. This 
slate was generally suspended at the wall near the en- 
trance to the laboratory, and served as a registry for 
such preparations as should be prepared during the 
day. Every clerk had strict instructions to note down 
all the articles that he noticed to be almost sold or con- 
sumed, either in the want-book, kept for this purpose 
at the desk in the store, or on this slate whenever the 
article was a production of the laboratory. 

" I see that compound tincture of cinchona has to 
be made," he said, and opened the " Pharmacopoeia," 
a copy of which, together with various other standard 
works on pharmacy, were kept on a small shelf over 
the general working-table of the laboratory. Pointing 
to the formula of the wanted tincture, he made the 
Junior bring the tin cases that contained cinchona- 
bark, orange-peel, and serpentaria, and, after weighing 
the required quantities, directed him to grind all to- 
gether in a mill. 

The stock-bottles, in which the various tinctures, 
38 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 39 

syrups, liniments, and fluid extracts were kept, until 
needed in the pharmacy, all held five pints, and were 
green-stoppered packing-bottles. They were a con- 
venient size for the want of the store. Such prepara- 
tions as were needed in larger quantities were kept in 
two or more bottles rather than to disturb the uni- 
formity of the array by bottles of various sizes. The 
compound tincture of cinchona, being one of the tinc- 
tures in greatest demand, was generally prepared in 
quantities of twenty pints, enough for four bottles, or, 
since the introduction of the metric system, in quanti- 
ties of ten thousand cubic centimetres, — that is, ten 
times as much as the formula of the " United States 
Pharmacopoeia" prescribes. 

" This is another freak/' said the Junior, who found 
much to criticise on this day, turning the mill ; " why 
don't you buy the powdered drugs, as other people 
do, instead of making me work like a mill-hand for 
half an hour ?" 

" You might just as well say, ' Why don't you buy 
the tincture ready-made, as some lazy druggists do?' 
Simply because we want to be sure that whatever we 
turn out is the very best. We do not wish to dispense 
Makem's or Cheatem's fluid extracts, tinctures, and so 
on, but our own." 

" But why not buy the powdered drugs ?" 

" Because it is easier to judge the crude bark or root 
than the powdered ; the addition of poor specimens, or 
even adulteration, is impossible, if we examine the 



40 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

bark itself, but very difficult to discover if we start 
with the powder. Adulteration is best discovered by 
the process of assaying, to which we subject our drugs 
and powders before using them. Take, for instance, 
this lot of cinchona-bark. According to the ' Phar- 
macopoeia/ it should contain at least five per cent, of 
combined alkaloids and not less than two and a half 
per cent, of quinine. This bark fulfils these require- 
ments, the assay having shown 5.3 per cent, of alka- 
loids and 2.6 of quinine. When it was bought the 
dealer also recommended a lot of mixed powder for the 
compound tincture, claiming it to be of the best quality. 
Now the mixture of cinchona, orange-peel, and serpen- 
taria used for this tincture contains fifty per cent, of 
cinchona; the assay of it should therefore yield 2.5 
per cent, of total alkaloids and 1.25 per cent, of qui- 
nine, while it showed only 0.9 per cent, of the former 
and little more than a trace of the latter." 

" Then they tried to cheat us ?" 

" I would not like to say that/' replied the Propri- 
etor. " They even courted examination, and probably 
believed themselves to offer a perfect article. But it 
shows that the utmost care is necessary in the selection 
of the crude drugs. All exactness and precaution in 
manipulating are of little use if the material with which 
you work is faulty. " 

" Well/' said the Junior, " I would not deal any 
more with such people after an experience of this 
kind." 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 41 

" You will learn more about these intricate prob- 
lems as you grow older. How do we know but what 
they used the very best bark, and a change took place 
afterwards ? The mysteries surrounding the chemistry 
of alkaloids and their compounds have not yet all been 
explained, and there still remains a large unexplored 
field for the searcher of truth. How do we know that 
the alkaloid which the living plant produces does not 
undergo a gradual change after the plant life is extinct ? 
May not new products, new combinations, continually 
be formed? Light, moisture, and air may not only 
produce a physical change, but also a chemical one; 
or the different alkaloids and other compounds — some 
known to us, some unknown — may quietly wage war 
on each other, destroying, decomposing, annihilating 
each other, and new combinations arise. Do not un- 
derstand me to say that I claim that such a change 
does take place in cinchona-bark ; I only express a 
theory that I believe will some day be expounded and 
verified. In fact, I might cite instances that strongly 
point in this direction. We know that the bark of 
Rhamnus Purshiana undergoes a gradual change on 
keeping, and large manufacturers of galenicals state 
that they do not use it until it is two years old. In- 
vestigation of the rhizome of Podophyllum Peltatum 
has also revealed the fact that different results are ob- 
tained from the fresh and the old drugs, the latter being 
richer in medicinal virtue than the former. The con- 
scientious pharmacist should therefore commence with 



42 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

the crude drug in making his preparations, unless there 
are insurmountable physical difficulties. 

" In the case of compound cinchona tincture there is 
another reason why the drugs should be powdered just 
before being used. In powdering orange-peel and ser- 
pentaria a certain amount of oil is set free, or, rather, 
pressed out, and would be lost by evaporation, while 
now the fine cinchona powder will at once absorb and 
retain it." 

"There !" said the Junior; "done." 

" Not yet, my friend," said the Manager, smilingly. 
" If you will read the ' Pharmacopoeia' you will see 
that a No. 60 powder is required for this tincture. I 
did not set the mill as fine as that, for the grind ing- 
wheels would probably have been clogged. You see," 
taking out the receiving-drawer, "that the drugs are 
little more than crushed ; we now set the mill a little 
finer and grind again. We then sift off the powder 
of the required fineness, and repeat the process with 
the remaining portion until all is turned into No. 60 
powder." 

The Junior did as directed, grumbling some words 
of displeasure; but when, finally, the two thousand 
grammes of a uniformly powdered aromatic drug lay 
before him, he could not but applaud his own work. 

"I declare," he said, "I never smelled any drugs 
of such fine flavor !" 

" I am glad you appreciate the richness of the 
flavor," said the Proprietor. " There is hope that you 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 43 

will some day recognize the advantage of our system. 
What shall we do with the powder now ?" 

" Moisten it with some of the menstruum," said the 
Junior; and taking the "Pharmacopoeia," he added: 
" It will take two thousand cubic centimetres of the 
menstruum, consisting of oue hundred aud fifty cubic 
centimetres of glycerin, one hundred and fifty of 
water, and seventeen hundred of alcohol. Shall I mix 
these?" 

" I prefer in the case of tinctures to prepare all the 
menstruum at once. It saves time and avoids mis- 
takes. We wish to make ten thousand cubic centi- 
metres, or about twenty pints ; therefore take one of 
the large three-gallon jars, put the liquids in the 
proper proportions in it, and label the jar ' Men- 
struum for Tr. Cinch. Co.' What quantities do we 
require ?" 

After a little figuring, the Junior replied: " We need 
seven hundred and fifty cubic centimetres of glycerin, 
seven hundred and fifty of water, and eight thousand 
five hundred of alcohol to start with. After using 
this, we mix alcohol and water in the same proportion, 
omitting the glycerin." 

After having prepared the menstruum, the Junior 
measured two thousand cubic centimetres, and poured 
some of it on the drugs before him. Then he mixed 
liquid and powder with the hands, rubbing the parts 
that clogged together between the palms, gradually 
adding more of the menstruum. 



44 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

The Proprietor watched the process, to be sure that 
the moisture was evenly distributed throughout the 
whole mass. Then he said: 

"We now put this moist powder into a closed 
vessel and allow it to macerate for twenty-four hours." 

" W 7 hat is the object of this delay ?" said the Junior. 
" Why do we not percolate at once ?" 

" For various reasons," said the Proprietor. " The 
liquid cannot permeate the cellular tissues of the vege- 
tables in a few minutes, and by allowing it some time, 
a more uniform impregnation is obtained. Then you 
know that many drugs have the property of expanding 
or swelling when they are moistened. By putting 
them directly into the percolator, this property would 
force the particles close together and press them against 
the sides, sometimes to such an extent that the per- 
colation would proceed extremely slowly or cease 
entirely." 

The Junior, having finished his work and properly 
labelled the jar with the menstruum, washed his hands 
and said : 

" My first position was with an old German phar- 
macist, who made all his preparations himself, as you 
do, but paid little attention to the American ' Pharma- 
copoeia.' He always used the German i Pharmaco- 
poeia/ in which maceration was the general process for 
making tinctures. He called percolation a silly inno- 
vation, and claimed that no reliable results could be 
obtained thereby, on account of a number of probable, 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 45 

almost una voidable, mistakes or deficiencies to which it 
was subject." 

The Proprietor replied : " The number of opponents 
of this excellent process of exhausting drugs, which 
was first popularized by Professor Procter, is growing 
smaller every day. Some old pharmacists, educated 
at an earlier period by different teachers and under dif- 
ferent surroundings than ours, will not or cannot 
realize that the world is moving and progress being 
made in every field of art and science; they will, 
therefore, persist in their opposition to the end of 
their lives. But that percolation is a better process 
than maceration can no longer be denied ; and even so 
conservative an authority as the German ' Pharmaco- 
poeia' has, in its latest revision, adopted it in a few 
cases, which will act as the entering wedge for further 
innovations." 

" What are the advantages of percolation over 
maceration ?" asked the Junior. 

" Greater simplicity in manipulation, more reliable 
and satisfactory results, and more elegant preparations 
are the main points of difference," said the Proprietor. 
" In maceration you must shake the vessel in which 
you prepare the tincture at least once a day, in order 
to mix the lower impregnated strata of the menstruum 
with the upper ones. If you prepare large quantities, 
as in our case, such shaking becomes exceedingly diffi- 
cult, on account of the weight of the material. In 
percolation no such difficulty arises, and the process is 



46 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

equally adapted to small and large quantities. Then 
comes the length of time. Maceration extends over 
eight to twenty days, and a long period is generally 
preferred, to make sure that all the drugs are equally 
penetrated by the liquid. But how do we know that 
they are? And, if they are, will not the elastic fibres 
of the drugs, sometimes expanded and swollen on the 
outside, tenaciously retain the active principles, in 
spite of all the shaking? 

" How different it is with percolation ! Experience 
has taught us how long the drugs should be moistened 
to allow the menstruum to penetrate them thoroughly ; 
in the case of compound tincture of cinchona, twenty- 
four hours. We then put them into the percolator, 
packing down evenly, so that no small canal or passage 
is left for the liquid, and no stratum possesses greater 
density than any other. The menstruum that now 
passes from particle to particle cannot but push each 
saturated part before it, taking its place, and being 
displaced in turn by the following layer. Gravitation, 
never ceasing, never varying, is the constant and gen- 
tle, but irresistible, power: and no alkaloid can hide 
itself in the protecting embrace of vegetable fibres ; it 
will be found, dissolved, and moved along. And, 
finally, when the process is completed, what a cum- 
bersome method maceration proves to be when it 
comes to clarifying the tincture ! Simple draining of 
the drugs is entirely inadequate, for we know that the 
richest, the most effective parts will linger in the 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 47 

marc, — that is, the mass of remaining drugs. Pressure 
must be resorted to, and formerly the tincture-press 
was as indispensable in the laboratory as the percola- 
tor is now. But the sudden great pressure, which 
takes the place of the mild, gradual power of gravita- 
tion, not only removes almost the last drop of liquid 
from the drugs, but with it innumerable minute parti- 
cles of the inert tissue and cells that render the tinc- 
ture unsightly and turbid. Filtration becomes neces- 
sary, sometimes repeated three or four times. How 
much more elegant and quicker is the tincture made 
by percolation ! It appears clear and richly colored 
from the beginning, no filtration is necessary, and 
even the last particle of the menstruum can be re- 
moved in some cases by driving it out with water. If 
strictly correct tinctures of a fixed alkaloidal strength 
are required, an assay has to be made in both cases, 
whether prepared by maceration or percolation, and 
experience has shown that the greater exactness is on 
the side of percolation." 

" But the correct packing requires a great deal of 
care and skill," retorted the Junior. 

"The requirement of greater skill in manipula- 
tion," replied the Proprietor, "should not be consid- 
ered as an objection in pharmacy, especially when a 
better result is thereby obtained. It takes more me- 
chanical skill to build a fine house than a common 
one; but is that a valid argument that huts and 
shanties are preferable? More skill is required to 



48 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

make elegant and neat clothes than to make slovenly 
and misfitting ones ; but should we, therefore, say that 
it is wiser and better to look like tramps ? If it is 
true that percolation presupposes higher pharmaceuti- 
cal skill, this fact should be a powerful argument in 
its favor and against maceration." 

" If I had my way," said the Junior, " I would 
neither macerate nor percolate to make my tinctures, 
but simply reduce the fluid extracts. What an amount 
of bother that would save !" 

" Bother V exclaimed the Proprietor, with a voice 
in which anger and irony were mingled ; " you young 
people adjudge everything by the amount of inconveni- 
ence it causes you ; no other thought accompanies you 
in your work. The desire to avoid or reduce ' bother' 
has opened the field for the large manufacturer, the 
tablet-maker, and the physician-supply furnisher. 
Even the physician catches the echo of your abomina- 
ble cry about bother, and kindly relieves you of the 
trouble of preparing prescriptions by dispensing his 
own preparations. And then, when you are free from 
all bother, even from the annoyance of waiting on 
customers, you complain about bad times and selfish 
physicians, scold the public and the manufacturers, 
and call pharmacy a profession of the past. I tell 
you, young man, there are still some pharmacists to 
whom laboratory work is no bother, but a pleasure, 
and the harder the work the greater the pleasure; 
men who rejoice in what you call bother, and who find 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 



49 



ample reward in the result of their work. Shame on 
you and your bother ! Do you think that such indo- 
lence would have led Scheele to have discovered oxy- 
gen, or Sertiirner to find morphine ? Imagine Procter 
fearing the bother of percolation, or Maisch the bother 
of his tedious but faithful examination of ethereal oils ! 
Take any of the living pillars of pharmacy, at our 
various colleges or in their private laboratories, and 
tell me whether it is not the bother of studying and 
striving that has made them prominent. How can 
you expect ever to succeed in a profession that is 
nothing but bother to you ! And now let us see 
whither your freedom from bother will lead you in 
the case of tinctures. You will make tinctures from 
fluid extracts. This means that fluid extracts are con- 
centrated tinctures, and tinctures diluted fluid extracts. 
Let us see if this is true. Take the fluid extract and 
tincture of cinchona. The prescribed menstruum of 
the former is a mixture of eight hundred parts of alco- 
hol and two hundred of water; that of the tincture 
consists of six hundred and seventy-five parts of alco- 
hol, seventy-five of glycerin, and two hundred and 
fifty of water. It is evident that the first-mentioned 
menstruum will exercise a different solvent power on 
the alkaloids of cinchona than the latter, so that the 
fluid extract can never be turned into a tincture by 
mere dilution. Or take hyoscyamus. The menstruum 
for the fluid extract is a mixture of two parts of alcohol 
and one part of water ; that for the tincture, diluted 

4 



50 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

alcohol. How can the one finished product be made 
from the other ? Let us go still further. Fluid ex- 
tract of digitalis is made with a mixture of six parts 
of alcohol and three parts of water, and therefore con- 
tains principally those constituents of digitalis that are 
soluble in alcohol. We also have an infusion of digi- 
talis in which water alone is the menstruum, the alco- 
hol being added afterwards simply to preserve the in- 
fusion, but not to dissolve ; it therefore contains only 
those principles that are soluble in water. And yet, 
to save bother, you would simply dilute your fluid 
extract, producing a mixture entirely different in com- 
position — and, consequently, in therapeutic action — 
from the true infusion. !N"o wonder, then, if the 
physician relieves you also of the bother of diluting 
the fluid extract." 

" But could not the fluid extract be made with the 
same menstruum as the tinctures?" ventured the 
Junior. 

" Then such preparations would be no fluid extracts, 
nor would you have saved any bother ; for you would 
have to make your fluid extract and then your concen- 
trated tincture, while in reality it would be less bother 
to make the regular tincture than the concentrated." 

" But do not manufacturers of fluid extracts print 
on the labels directions for making tinctures, syrups, 
and infusions of the respective drugs from the fluid 
extracts ?" 

" I know that they do ; but such labels are simply 



THE PHAKMACIST AT WORK 51 

lies, intended for unscrupulous and lazy pharmacists 
who are afraid of ' bother.' " 

il Well, that surprises me," said the Junior ; " con- 
sidering that so many druggists and doctors use the 
fluid extracts for making their tinctures, I hardly think 
they are aware of doing any wrong." 

" If they are not aware that the formulas for fluid 
extracts differ in more respects than strength from 
those of tinctures, they should not follow a profession 
where their ignorance might lead to serious conse- 
quences. To show you more clearly that fluid extracts 
are not merely concentrated tinctures, let us take any 
of the preparations of a well-known manufacturing 
firm, whose goods we are compelled to keep, because 
one of our physicians insists in ordering them in pref- 
erence to our own. Here is the fluid extract of rhu- 
barb. On the label we read : 

Formula for making Tincture of Khubarb, U.S. P. : 

PI. Ext. Rhubarb, 1 fl. oz. ; 
PI. Ext. Cardamom, 96 min. ; 
Glycerin, 1 fl. oz. ; 
Alcohol, b\ fl. oz. ; 
Water, 2| fl. oz. 

" You see that the formula will make about ten fluid- 
ounces, of which five and one-fifth are alcohol. The 
official formula for the tincture of rhubarb contains 
sixty per cent, of alcohol ; the ten fluidounces should 
therefore contain six fluidounces. There seems to be 



52 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

a difference of four-fifths of a fluidounce ; but this is 
supplied by the fluidounce of fluid extract, the men- 
struum of which contains eighty per cent, of alcohol, — 
that is, four-fifths of a fluidounce in one fluidounce. 
So the amount of alcohol is correct. There should be 
three fluidounces of water in ten fluidounces of the 
tincture. The above formula provides for two and 
three-fifths fluidounces, and one-fifth of a fluidounce 
comes from the fluidounce of the extract, making two 
and four-fifths fluidounces. The last fifth must there- 
fore be furnished by the fluid extract of cardamom, a 
non-official preparation, made by the manufacturer, 
according to this formula, with water as menstruum ; 
for if it contained any alcohol, there would be an 
excess of this liquid in the finished tincture of rhubarb. 
But this is by no means the only irregularity. The 
ingredients of rhubarb are partly soluble in water and 
partly in alcohol. A menstruum containing eighty 
per cent, of alcohol will, therefore, dissolve different in- 
gredients than one containing but sixty per cent. ; or, 
if we suppose that the fluid extract represents all the 
active principles of the drug, so that nothing but inert 
vegetable fibres are left in the marc, then the tincture 
cannot do so, and a diluted extract is no tincture. 
The ten per cent, of glycerin in the tincture is added 
to the menstruum of the tincture to prevent the deposit 
of chrysophanic acid on standing. But as there is no 
glycerin in the fluid extract, and the manufacturers are 
very particular to filter their preparations before send- 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 53 

ing them out, we are justified in saying that the chryso- 
phanic acid has been removed from the extract, and 
the subsequent addition of the glycerin cannot, of 
course, restore it." 

" But do not the manufacturers claim that the two 
menstrua, though they differ, will dissolve the same 
ingredients ?" 

" Suppose they did, would the admission of the cor- 
rectness of such an unproved claim not be a slur on 
the revisers of the i Pharmacopoeia/ who would then 
have increased the alcoholic strength of the fluid ex- 
tract unnecessarily and caused the pharmacist a useless 
expense ? If you put on one side the arguments and 
statements of a number of scientific men of the highest 
national repute, and on the other the claims of a manu- 
facturing firm whose chief aim is to make money, I do 
not believe there can be any doubt as to which you 
will think is right." 

After a while the Junior said : " Which of the two 
preparations — the fluid extract or the tincture — repre- 
sents the drug better ?" 

" If you mean by representing a drug better that 
the liquid preparation shall contain in the most accu- 
rate manner all the ingredients of the crude drug, then 
the fluid extract is without doubt the better of the two. 
In the first place, a cubic centimetre of the fluid extract 
corresponds in every case to a gramme of the drug ; 
and, in the second place, the modus operandi of all 
consists in first percolating a part, generally eight- 



54 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

tenths of the required quantity, and then exhausting 
the drug, — that means continuing percolation until the 
menstruum comes out of the percolator unchanged in 
color and odor. The second percolate is evaporated to 
a thick extract, which, in turn, is then dissolved in the 
reserved portion (first percolate). By this method it is 
supposed that a fluid extract is prepared representing 
the drug exactly." 

" You say it is ' supposed/ " said the Junior ; " does 
it not always do so ?" 

" I do not think that anybody would be willing to 
affirm this question without reserve," replied the Pro- 
prietor. " There are various difficulties that the care- 
less observer may overlook. The menstruum may run 
clear and unchanged through the percolator and yet 
leave undissolved particles in the 'marc/ as the re- 
maining exhausted mass of vegetable fibres and tissues 
is called. The proper proportions of alcohol and 
water, and sometimes glycerin, or of various other 
liquids, as acids or ammonia, necessary to fully ex- 
haust the various drugs, have by no means as yet been 
ascertained. In spite of the most careful experiments 
and observations, we discover again and again that the 
menstruum employed is more or less defective, and 
the numerous changes that every new edition of the 
' Pharmacopoeia' shows in this respect are the best 
proof hereof. A second difficulty exists in the evapo- 
ration of the second percolate. Vegetable principles 
are exceedingly sensitive to temperature and light, and 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 55 

no one can assert that the thick concentration contains 
the active principles in the same proportion as the 
liquid did, nor even that the same active constituents 
are present. The difference in color and odor of simi- 
lar fluid extracts from different manufacturers is prob- 
ably traceable to some oversight in evaporating, and 
shows how difficult it is to prepare a perfect extract. 
And even the claim that the fluid extract represents 
the drug, drop for grain, is correct only for the indi- 
vidual drug that has been exhausted. But how do we 
know that two different lots of drugs, like aconite or 
belladonna, are alike in strength and action ? Both 
may have been thoroughly exhausted, and yet the one 
fluid may be different from the other. The only ab- 
solute safeguard against varying the preparation is 
standardization of every preparation, and not until a 
process of assay has been established for every tincture 
and fluid extract can the ' Pharmacopoeia' be considered 
a perfect book." 

"Are not tinctures subject to the same objections as 
fluid extracts ?" asked the Junior. 

" Not to the same extent," replied the Proprietor. 
" No claim is made for them that they are true repre- 
sentatives of the drugs. They simply are alcoholic or 
hydro-alcoholic solutions of certain active ingredients 
which have been studied well and whose therapeutic 
actions are known. Their strength can often be fig- 
ured out to exactness • and if they contain the official 
amount of one or more alkaloid, as the case may be, 



56 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

they fulfil their object. The question of what remains 
in the marc is of little account ; and as we know per- 
fectly well what menstruum will dissolve a certain 
alkaloid or resin, there is less probability of an error 
in this subject. A well-prepared tincture is, therefore, 
a reliable form of medication, and not a few physicians, 
after having thoroughly tried the tablets and triturates 
without satisfaction, gradually come back to this form 
of medication." 

" I should think/' said the Junior, " that the alco- 
hol present in the tinctures would often be very 
objectionable." 

" So it is," answered the Proprietor, " and efforts 
have repeatedly been made to find a less objectionable 
yet equally good solvent. I understand that there is a 
school ot physicians in London who reject alcoholic 
tinctures entirely, and use glycerin or mixtures of 
glycerin and water and acids as the menstruum. But, 
although glycerin is quite an excellent solvent, it is in- 
ferior to alcohol, especially in such cases where the 
medical virtues depend upon oils or resins, and I fail 
to see how therapeutically satisfactory tinctures can be 
made with it. If this deviation was a success, we cer- 
tainly would hear more of it. You may now look 
through the ' Pharmacopoeia' and make a memorandum 
of the various tinctures, arranging them according to 
the percentage in which the drugs are used in their 
preparations. I am wanted in the store." 



CHAPTER IY. 



DRUMMERS — ACCOMMODATING THE PUBLIC — OFFI- 
CIAL TINCTURES — CLASSIFICATION OF TINCTURES 
— TURBIDITY OF TINCTURES. 

The Proprietor turned towards the door, where the 
Senior stood with a card of a visitor in his hands. 
Taking the card and glancing at the name, a cloud of 
displeasure passed over his face. " This is the third 
tobacco drummer to-day," he murmured; a I wonder 
if they will never get tired of annoying us." 

However little he liked the unwelcome interruption, 
he approached the caller in a friendly and pleasant 
way, and patiently listened to his loquacious introduc- 
tory remarks. But when the salesman proceeded to 
unpack his samples, he interrupted him by saying: 

" I believe your time is as valuable to you as mine 
is to me. I am not in need of any more cigars, which 
I keep simply to follow the general custom, not that I 
care much for the small profit that I derive from 
their sale. Therefore I think I do you a favor in 
asking you not to waste your time on an unworthy 
object ; and, while I thank you for your visit, I must 
ask to be excused." 

These remarks, uttered with the greatest politeness 
and decision, seemed to' unnerve the stranger com- 

57 



58 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

pletely ; but, after recovering himself, he took from a 
case a couple of fine cigars and offered them to the 
Proprietor, with the words, "Have the kindness to 
try one." 

"I thank you," replied the Proprietor; "I never 
smoke in my store." 

" But you sell cigars," said the salesman. 

" If any of my customers choose to smoke here, I 
certainly cannot object. But I would set a bad exam- 
ple to my employees if I should indulge in a pastime 
or weakness — whichever you may call it— that is ob- 
jectionable to a great number of my customers, espe- 
cially the ladies. A physician or pharmacist should 
never be offensive in any respect ; hands, clothing, or 
breath should have no odor of tobacco or liquor ; and 
while a moderate indulgence is certainly allowable, it 
should be avoided in the place where it might give 
offence and w 7 ork injury. I bid you good-morning, 
sir." 

Bowing courteously, he withdrew, leaving the sales- 
man to gather his parcels and depart. 

" Postal stamp," ejaculated a burly young fellow r , 
who had entered the store ; and the Proprietor quickly 
handed him the desired article, receiving the two cents 
with the customary " Thank you, sir." 

After the customer had departed, the Manager ad- 
dressed the Proprietor : "I often admire your equa- 
nimity, of which quality I possess only a limited 
amount, I am sorry to say. If, after the umveleome 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 59 

interview with the drummer, this uncouth fellow had 
asked me for a postal stamp, I should have told him 
to go to — the post-office." 

The Proprietor smiled and replied: "Your praise of 
my equanimity is an admission that my way of meet- 
ing these tiresome customers is better than yours, and 
you would do well in following my example. We 
pharmacists are used by many people as media of gen- 
eral accommodatiou. We are expected to give infor- 
mation on diseases, doses, poisons, and antidotes ; to 
know how to feed babies and how to keep them quiet ; 
to give the address of every person that has come to, 
or moved out of, this place for the last ten years ; to 
keep a directory and writing-desk for public use ; to 
write addresses on envelopes, and know how much 
postage a letter or package will require; to be in- 
formed on railroads, steamboats, theatres, concerts, and 
church fairs ; to know where ladies can procure ser- 
vants and servants find positions ; to be a general in- 
formation bureau on history, literature, politics, and 
music ; in fact, to know everything that nobody else 
knows. There are only two ways to follow : we 
must either refuse all favors to every one, or give 
what information we can pleasantly and willingly, as 
the sun gives us light, or the clouds send us rain. To 
frown upon everybody who asks us for a postage 
stamp, or even to moralize with him, is sheer folly. 
To refuse a favor on the plea of inability may be dis- 
appointing, but it will give no offence ; while to grant 



60 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

a favor with displeasure and anger shows lack of good 
manners, and is an insult to the receiver, who would 
probably have preferred not to ask." 

"But I sometimes think/' replied the Manager, 
"that people impose on your kindness and good 
nature." 

"It is better," said the Proprietor, "to overlook 
and disregard such imposition than to be accused of a 
lack of courtesy. Of course, such things can be over- 
done, and a man may make himself a slave or clown 
to every Tom, Dick, and Harry ; but a man of self- 
respect knows where to draw the line, and that is what 
I should like to do in reference to cigar agents. I 
have had enough of them for to-day, and would ask 
you to tell them in future that I do not need their 
services." 

"Let me do so," interrupted the Senior. "I will 
'give it to them' so thick that they will think of us 
ever afterwards." 

" I believe you would," said the Proprietor, laugh- 
ingly ; " but probably not in my way. Do not forget 
that these men work very hard and earnestly strive to 
serve us. Occasionally they may be annoying, as was 
the cigar-man before; but you should always treat 
them with courtesy. The better ones among them, who 
have gathered experience and sagacity, know very 
quickly when they annoy, and act accordingly. A 
salesman is in many respects like an orator : most of 
them utter many words and say really little, and the 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 61 

result of their harangue is in inverse proportion to their 
loquacity ; only the good ones know where to stop." 

After these words he returned to the laboratory, 
w^here he found the Junior with the l Pharmacopoeia/ 
trying to classify the tinctures according to their 
strength. 

" I never thought there were as many as seventy- 
two tinctures," said the young man. 

" And you might add," replied tne Proprietor, " as 
many unofficial ones that are often ordered. Tell me 
what observations you have made in arranging 
them ?" 

"In trying to classify them according to the per- 
centage of drugs represented in them, I find that most 
of them contain a multiple of five. I have four with 
five per cent., twenty-three with ten per cent., ten 
with fifteen per cent., twenty-five with twenty per 
cent., one with thirty-five per cent., and two with fifty 
per cent. Besides these, there are five whose percent- 
age strengths are no multiples of five, — namely, com- 
pound tincture of opium, containing only 0.4 per cent, 
of the most active ingredient, or 1.6 of all the physio- 
logically active constituents combined ; the tincture of 
nux vomica, containing two per cent, of the extract. 
The third one I cannot classify, — namely, the com- 
pound tincture of lavender." 

The Proprietor said : " It is a one per cent, hydro- 
alcoholic tincture of aromatics. To classify this prep- 
aration the corresponding quantity of drugs from 



62 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

which the oils of lavender and rosemary are gained 
must first be figured. As it is now, it is a preparation 
consisting of a mixture of a spirit and a tincture, for- 
merly called ' compound spirit of lavender/ and you 
know that the public clings to this name. The change 
in the name as directed by the revisers of our ' Phar- 
macopoeia' does not seem to have been very fortunate, 
and was probably made to have the title correspond 
with that of the corresponding British preparation. 
If instead of this new name, which is as improper as 
the old one, the cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg had 
been dropped and replaced by a corresponding quantity 
of their oils, a preparation would have been obtained 
that was really a spirit, and might have been colored 
red by some harmless substance." 

" Is there no red coloring tincture official ?" asked 
the Junior. 

" There is not," replied the Proprietor, " and I re- 
gret this very much. Such a tincture might have little 
or no medical value ; but every pharmacist knows how 
often he is required to impart a red color to various 
preparations. By introducing such a coloring tinc- 
ture uniformity of colorific effect might be obtained, 
and elixirs and other preparations be made to look 
alike. A fine yellow tincture, used only for coloring 
purposes, is the tincture of crocus ; a red one is lack- 
ing. But let us return to our tinctures. Besides that 
of lavender, there are two more that are no multiples 
of five ; what are they ?" 



THE PHARMACIST AT WOKK 63 

The Junior looked at the schedule and said: "Tinc- 
ture of iodine, containing seven per cent, of the ele- 
ment, and tincture of ferric chloride, containing 
twenty-five per cent, of the solution of ferric chloride, 
or 13.6 per cent, of the anhydrous salt." 

The Proprietor interrupted him by saying: "The 
designation ' tincture' for the iodine preparations is not 
a proper one. According to the definition of ' spirit' 
it should be spirit of iodine, for it is a solution of a 
volatile substance in alcohol." 

" Why, then, was not this name adopted ?" asked 
the Junior. 

" Probably in order not to confuse the public, who 
would continue to ask for ' tincture' of iodine, just as 
well as they continue to ask for ' spirit' of lavender. 
You see by these two examples that even such prom- 
inent men as the revisers of our i Pharmacopoeia' at 
times lack consistency. The tincture of ferric chloride 
also looks like an anomaly. Made from the liquor, 
the question naturally arises why the liquor is not sim- 
ply diluted with water. If iodine tincture was put 
where it belongs, — among the spirits, — and the iron 
tincture classed as a diluted liquor, we should arrive at 
the correct definition of the word ' tincture,' — namely, 
an alcoholic or hydro-alcoholic solution of physiologi- 
cal active constituents of vegetable or animal drugs. 
You see that, with the exception of the five of which 
we have made special mention, all tinctures represent 



64 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

the drugs in a percentage that is a multiple of five, 
evidently from the influence of the metric sys- 
tem. 

" Here we might mention two other preparations, 
allied to the tinctures, but differing from them in the 
menstruum, which consists of diluted acetic acid, the 
aceta or vinegars." 

" I know the vinegar of squills/' said the Junior, 
" used to make the syrup." 

" The other official one is Acetum Opii, or vinegar 
of opium. Both vinegars contain ten per cent, of the 
drug, and the opium vinegar is rendered more pleasant 
by the addition of some nutmeg and sugar." 

" Why not make all tinctures ten per cent., so as to 
have uniformity in them ?" asked the Junior. 

" This question has often been asked and argued," 
replied the Proprietor; "and though its affirmation 
and acceptance appear tempting at first sight, the 
change will probably never take place, owing to prac- 
tical difficulties. In the first place, the doses of the 
five per cent, tinctures — like that of cantharides or of 
strophanti! us — are already very small, and would be 
still smaller if their strength were increased to ten per 
cent., while the dose of those of higher percentage, if 
reduced to ten per cent., would become so large that 
the stimulating effect of the alcohol in them might 
overcome the therapeutic action of the drugs. An- 
other kind of uniformity is often asked for and advo- 
cated, — namely, that of the doses. Why not make 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 65 

tinctures so that the dose of each of them is always ten 
or twenty drops ?" 

"It would be easier then to write prescriptions," 
replied the Junior. 

" Yes, and it is very likely that these practitioners, 
who live in a continuous warfare with the doses of 
their remedies, are the originators of such recommen- 
dations. It is the question whether all our tinctures 
could be made to conform to such a requirement. 
Some of them would be stronger than their correspond- 
ing fluid extracts. But the main objection lies in the 
fact that the dose of hardly any drug is fixed. New 
investigations, and, consequently, new discoveries of 
alkaloids and other constituents, continually modify 
the doses of drugs, and this would naturally cause 
much confusion, by necessitating repeated alteration in 
the quantities of drugs. Another classification of the 
tinctures, and one of great importance to the pharma- 
cist as well as to the prescriber, is their arrangement 
according to the alcoholic strength of the menstruum. 
The lack of such knowledge is sometimes the cause of 
disagreeable controversies." 

" In what respect ?" asked the Junior. 

"You remember," answered the Proprietor, "the 
noisy and discourteous complaints of a physician a few 
days ago, who claimed that his prescription was not 
properly filled. He had ordered a mixture of tincture 
of tolu and syrup of wild cherry, and expected to re- 
ceive a clear mixture. His intention was to adminis- 

5 



66 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

ter tola in stronger doses than the syrup contains ; but 
by ordering the tincture he forgot — perhaps he never 
knew — that it is an alcoholic solution of a balsam, and 
that the latter, being almost insoluble in water, would 
be precipitated by the addition of any syrup, because 
alcohol possesses a greater readiness to mix with water 
than to retain a balsam in solution." 

" It is, then, the addition of water to alcoholic tinc- 
tures that causes them to become cloudy or turbid?" 
asked the Junior. 

" Very often it is," replied the Proprietor. " Any 
tincture that contains oil, gum, resin, or balsam in 
solution will lose its brilliancy more or less by the 
addition of water, and physicians should remember 
this if they expect clear preparations." 

" But could we not filter the precipitated matter out 
of the mixtures ?" 

" Very often the particles of oil or gum are so 
minutely divided that they defy the intervention of a 
filter. But even if we could clarify these prescriptions 
without the help of such filtering media as magnesia, 
talcum, or calcium phosphate, the question arises, 
whether we do not thereby remove all the active prin- 
ciples of the drug, so that the patient receives a clear, 
palatable liquid, perhaps, but no effective medicine. 
It is claimed that this is the case with many of the 
elegant elixirs and wines that some manufacturers in- 
duce physicians to prescribe, and the public to take, 
under the noisy flourish of the advertising trumpet." 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 67 

" I remember/' said the Junior, " that not long ago, 
in my former position, I had a controversy with a cus- 
tomer, who asked me for glycerin, rose water, and ben- 
zoin, equal parts, which she intended to use as a lotion 
for the skin. I mixed equal parts of the ingredients ; 
but the bottle was soon returned, with the remark 
that something was wrong. The owner of the store, 
however, knowing that I had given exactly what was 
asked for, supported me, and the lady had to keep the 
lotion." 

" You probably never saw her after that," said the 
Proprietor. 

" I do not remember that we did," replied the 
young man. " Would you not have acted in the 
same way ?" 

" I would not," replied the Proprietor ; " it is one 
of those cases where strict but thoughtless adherence 
to a given rule may work mischief. If you had given 
the customer a mixture of rose water and glycerin, with 
a few drops of benzoin, she would have had a better 
preparation for her hands and thought a good deal 
more of your ability. The benzoin in that combina- 
tion is added as a mild antiseptic, or as a flavoring agent, 
though superfluous in either capacity. A few drops 
would have imparted a peculiar aroma to the lotion, 
while the quantity that you put in produced a copious 
layer of benzoin on the surface, sticking obstinately to 
the skin and destroying the intended action of the 
preparation entirely." 



68 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

"But she asked for equal parts/' interposed the 
Junior. 

" It should be our rule to follow directions strictly 
but intelligently. If a physician orders equal parts of 
Fowler's solution and water, with the direction to take 
a teaspoonful, it is not only our right, but our duty, to 
confer with him, or, if he be inaccessible, to change the 
prescription to the best of our judgment. If, then, in 
cases of danger, such alterations are compulsory, why 
should we not use the same discretion when commer- 
cial interests are involved ? Experience will teach you 
that the public is apt to ask for many things under 
wrong names, in wrong quantities, or even under erro- 
neous impressions as to their medicinal virtues, and, 
besides, to refuse to accept any enlightenment on their 
errors. It is the province of the skilful druggist to 
quickly detect what is really wanted, and to quietly 
modify the order in such a way that the object is 
reached without destroying the confidence in the dis- 
penser or the belief in the customer's own superior 
knowledge. As professional men, we have but one 
course, — to strictly follow the directions of the physi- 
cian and the ' Pharmacopoeia' ; but as long as we must 
also be tradesmen, for the sake of earning a living, we 
should not allow our professional dignity to override 
the shrewdness that common sense bids us to practise. 

" Now let us return to our tinctures. We have seen 
that the most common cause of unsightliness in mix- 
tures is the addition of water to alcoholic tinctures; 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 69 

but this is by no means the only cause. Alcohol, for 

instance, may be the disturbing element. Not long 

ago the following prescription was brought to me : 

R Tinctura arnica?, 

Spir. vini rect., aa 31V. 
Fiat linimentum." 

" You do not mean to say," interrupted the Junior, 
" that such a mixture was not clear ?" 

" Try it," said the Proprietor. 

The Junior was about to take an eight-ounce gradu- 
ate, but his preceptor interfered. " Why do you take 
so much ?" he asked. 

" The prescription calls for eight ounces." 

" But you are not preparing the prescription ; you 
only wish to make a certain test, and there is no need 
of wasting so much valuable material." 

The Junior thereupon took a one-ounce graduate, 
and poured into it first two drachms of arnica tincture 
and then two of alcohol. On stirring the two liquids, 
a copious, light-brown precipitate was formed. 

" Well," he exclaimed, " I never thought that alco- 
hol could do this !" 

"And can you tell me why this precipitate is 
formed ?" asked the Proprietor. 

After reflecting, the Junior said : " There seems to be 
but one explanation. The ingredients of arnica flowers 
are more soluble in water than in alcohol, and the 
water of the tincture being withdrawn by the alcohol, 
they are precipitated." 



70 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

" So it is," said the Proprietor ; " and in this case, 
too, the physician came to me and complained that he 
had ordered the same liniment before and obtained a 
clear mixture. The reason probably was that the 
druggist who prepared it before had evaded the bother 
of making his own tincture of arnica by simply di- 
luting the fluid extract, which is made from the arnica 
root with a more alcoholic menstruum, and will easily 
bear further addition of alcohol. Thus, the outer ele- 
gant appearance is not always a guarantee of the actual 
medical strength, any more than a stylish coat is a 
guarantee of the real worth of the wearer." 

" Now tell me if there is another cause of turbidity, 
besides the menstruum, on mixing various liquid 
preparations ?" 

" I do not see what else could be the cause," said 
the Junior. 

"And yet there are causes of quite a different 
nature," answered the Proprietor ; " a chemical change 
may take place, resulting in the formation of an in- 
soluble compound." 

Noticing the inquiring, doubtful look of the Junior, 

he continued : " A prescription that we often prepare 

is the following : 

R Liq. Plurnbi Subacet., Jii ; 

Tinct. Opii, !§ii. 
Piat linimentum. 

The Junior poured the two liquids into a small 
graduate in the prescribed proportion, and witnessed 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 



71 



the formation of a thick, cloudy precipitate in the 
glass. 

" In this case the two menstrua have nothing to do 
with the result/' said the Proprietor. " The cause is 
rather a chemical one. Opium contains many ingre- 
dients, and, among others, an acid called meconic acid, 
which has the property of forming a precipitate with 
various salts of heavy metals, among them lead ace- 
tate. Would we be allowed to filter the preparation ?" 

" No," said the Junior ; " for we would then re- 
move a part, if not all, of the lead, on which some of 
the medical effect of the liniment depends." 

"Certainly/' replied the Proprietor; "and in dis- 
pensing such a mixture a shake-label should be at- 
tached to the bottle. The nature of the precipitate in 
this case and the chemistry of its formation are well 
known ; but there are other instances where a satisfac- 
tory explanation is not so easily found. Quite a puz- 
zling case happened to me the other day, of which I 
have not yet found a perfectly satisfactory solution. 
This is the prescription : 

R Tinct. Cinclion. Comp., 
Tinct. Calumbse, aa ^ii. 
Misce. 

" The Manager, who prepared it, came to me with 
it and showed me an unsightly mixture, with a thick, 
flocculent precipitate." 

"Well," said the Junior, "if I remember rightly, 
the two tinctures have quite different menstrua, and 



72 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

this circumstance was probably the cause of all the 
trouble." 

" Let us try," said the Proprietor. " First, prepare 
a small quantity of the menstruum of the compound 
tincture of cinchona. It consists of seventy-five cubic 
centimetres each of water and glycerin and eight hun- 
dred and fifty cubic centimetres of alcohol. Dividing 
these figures by twenty-five, we have three and thirty- 
four. Therefore mix three cubic centimetres of water 
and three cubic centimetres of glycerin and thirty-four 
cubic centimetres of alcohol. Now take ten cubic cen- 
timetres of this menstruum and add to it ten cubic 
centimetres of tincture of calumba. What do we 
observe ?" 

The Junior, after stirring the mixture, said, " This 
gives us a perfectly clear mixture, and shows us that 
the menstruum of the compound cinchona tincture is 
not the disturbing element." 

"Correct," said the Proprietor; "and now let us 
try the menstruum of tincture of calumba, which is a 
mixture of six parts of alcohol and four of water." 

The Junior mixed the two liquids in the desired 
proportion, preparing ten cubic centimetres in all, and 
then added the same quantity of compound tincture of 
cinchona. A very slight turbidity was noticeable, but 
no precipitate formed. 

" You see," said the Proprietor, " that, although the 
cinchona tincture is slightly affected by the weaker 
menstruum, we can hardly speak of a precipitate, and 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 73 

our experiments show that the two menstrua are not 
the cause of serious trouble. Now mix the tinctures." 

The Junior took ten cubic centimetres of each tinc- 
ture, and, on mixing, a thick, yellowish precipitate 
formed. 

" This precipitate," said the Proprietor, " is a sub- 
ject of great interest to the pharmaceutical student, and 
deserves to be examined thoroughly." 

" Can't we tell what it is from the ingredients of the 
two drugs ?" asked the Junior. 

" In the first place," said the Proprietor, " there are 
more than two drugs present. There is calumba in 
the one tincture, and in the other there is cinchona, 
orange-peel, and serpentaria. But even if we take only 
the two prominent ones, — calumba and cinchona, — we 
can but surmise what it may be. One plausible ex- 
planation is this : The principal ingredients of cin- 
chona are a number of alkaloids, foremost among 
which are quinine and cinchonidine, and these are very 
ready to form salts with free acids. Calumba con- 
tains such an acid, — calumbic acid ; and it is not im- 
probable that an insoluble compound is formed by the 
action of this acid on the alkaloids. But there are 
other possibilities, which I will not mention now. It 
would require a series of very careful examinations to 
say with certainty what this precipitate is, which was 
as great a surprise to the prescriber as it was to me." 

After a while the Junior said : " I thought chemistry 
had advanced to such perfection that nothing was hid- 



74 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

den from its analyzing search-light, and yet here we 
have a seemingly simple preparation that is so difficult 
to explain." 

" Perfection !" exclaimed the Proprietor. " What a 
mockery such a word is, if applied to the results of 
almost any science ! It is true that chemistry has 
made wonderful strides in the last twenty years, and 
yet how little do we know, if we try to solve its deep 
mysteries ! Take any of the chemicals on our shelves. 
Here, for instance, is sodium bromide. We know that 
it is a compound consisting of one molecule of bromine 
and one molecule of sodium ; that it crystallizes in 
colorless, cubical crystals ; that it has no odor, but a 
slightly bitter saline taste. We can easily figure out 
its atomic weight, examine its behavior under various 
temperatures, determine its solubility in water and 
other liquids, and say what other elements or com- 
pounds will decompose it. We know also that it has 
certain actions on the animal system ; that it acts as a 
sedative and produces sleep. Having learned all this, 
we are proud of our knowledge and imagine that we 
know everything that can be known about this salt. 

" But let us go a little deeper. How is it possible 
that an amorphous, soft, silver-white metal and a 
dark-brown liquid combine to form such a regular 
crystal ? We know nothing of the power that moves 
them, aud cover our ignorance by calling it ' chemical 
affinity/ Why do these crystals liquefy in water? 
We do not know. Why are thev colorless and not 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 



75 



red or blue ? Why do they act on the nervous system 
and not on the bowels ? Why are they not poisonous, 
while the two elements that compose them are so in a 
high degree? These and many other questions may 
be asked, and the same answer comes every time : 
1 We do not know.' There is one undeniable truth 
that our so-called perfection in chemistry demonstrates, 
— namely, that our knowledge of the mysterious forces 
in nature is only elementary, and that what we know 
about elements and their compounds is infinitely little 
compared with what we do not know." 






CHAPTER V. 

INCOMPATIBLES — FLUID EXTRACTS — WATER-BATH — 
REGAINING ALCOHOL — DISTILLATION — SUBLIMA- 
TION SOLID EXTRACTS — STANDARDIZATION 

OLEORESIN — DISCIPLINE. 

" Are not the preparations that cause unsightly 
precipitates called ' incompatibles' ?" asked the Junior 
of his preceptor. 

" In most cases they are. Sometimes it is the inten- 
tion of the prescriber to produce just such results," 
replied the Proprietor ; " but since you use the word 
1 incompatible/ I may perhaps answer your question 
better by asking you what the term ( incompatible' 
means ?" 

" I always supposed that it related to medicines 
that should not be taken together." 

" The word has a broader meaning than that, al- 
though we hear it mostly when applied to medicine. As 
derived from the Latin, it means ' not suited together f 
and preparations are, therefore, called incompatible 
when their ingredients, for some reason or other, do 
not form a satisfactory congruent combination. Now 
let us see what these reasons may be." 

The Junior interrupted him by saying: " If the dif- 
76 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 77 

ferent ingredients form new, unexpected compounds, 
different in their properties from the original ones, 
they must be incompatible." 

" Certainly," replied the Proprietor ; " aud which is 
the science that treats of such changes ?" 

" Why, chemistry ?" 

" How, therefore, would you call such incom- 
patibles ?" 

" ' Chemical incompatibles f but how do we know 
beforehand that such changes will take place? The 
resulting precipitate tells us only after the mischief has 
been done." 

" There need not be a precipitate at all ; mixtures 
may be perfectly clear and brilliant and yet be chemi- 
cally incompatible. General rules can hardly be given ; 
each prescription must be examined by itself, and the 
only way to avoid mistakes is to study chemistry. If 
for no other reason, this one is important enough, why 
all prescribers and dispensers of medicines should be 
chemical students ; and any school of medicine or phar- 
macy that does not enforce a thorough, exhaustive 
course in theoretical and practical chemistry should be 
closed as a public nuisance, apt, in its ultimate results, 
to endanger the health, if not the lives, of the public. 
Let us now consider a prescription with chemical in- 
compatibles. We need not go far ; there are a great 
number on our files." 

As he said this, the Proprietor took the following 
prescription from the files : 



78 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

& Argenti Nitratis, 0.05 ; 

Aquae Anisi, 60. 
Misce. 

" This looks harmless enough, but the patient would 
never get any — or only a little — silver nitrate, for this 
salt has the tendency of decomposing in the presence 
of organic substances. The anise water contains only 
very little organic matter, yet enough to be the cause 
of a black precipitate of metallic silver, if the prescrip- 
tion is prepared as ordered." 

" What did you do when it was presented ?" asked 
the Junior. 

" I took distilled water instead of anise water, as 
you will see by the note on the prescription. Silver 
nitrate should only be dispensed dissolved in distilled 
w T ater. 

"Then, again, there are prescriptions that are phar- 
maceutical^ incompatible," the Proprietor continued, 
" when in their preparation some soluble ingredients 
are precipitated. To this class belong those of which 
we spoke before." 

" I remember one," said the Junior, "that the Man- 
ager prepared yesterday. It contained tincture of 
guaiac, tincture of aloes, and water; and the gums 
were precipitated from their solution in the mixture. 
But what can a pharmacist do in such cases ?" 

The Proprietor replied: " If we know the physician 
well enough, and are sure that he w r ill not be offended 
by calling his attention to such an error, it is best to 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 79 

do so. But even in that case it is advisable to make a 
modest suggestion rather than point out directly his 
ignorance of pharmaceutical manipulation." 

"For instance, in this case?" asked the Junior. 

" I would say/' replied the Proprietor, " i Doctor, 
if you will allow me to use a little mucilage of acacia 
in this prescription in place of some of the water, the 
resinous matter will remain better suspended.' He 
would probably answer, ' All right/ and remember it 
in the future. But suppose I should say, ' Doctor, this 
makes a terrible-looking mixture; can't you order 
something better?' This adverse criticism and his 
inability to suggest a remedy would irritate him, and 
I would suffer by it." 

" But suppose we cannot find the physician, or do 
not care to approach him ?" asked the Junior. 

" In that case we must follow our own judgment; 
and, if we conclude to dispense the prescription as 
written, we should mix the resinous ingredients with a 
very little water at a time, shaking or stirring after 
each addition ; and, finally, put a ' shake-well' label 
on the bottle." 

" What is the third kind of incompatibility ?" asked 
the Junior. 

" Therapeutic incompatibility," said the Proprietor. 
"It takes place when one ingredient counteracts an- 
other in physiologic action and thereby destroys its 
therapeutic effect. For instance, if chloral were or- 
dered dissolved in whiskey, one ingredient would act 



80 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

as a sedative, the other as an excitant and stimulant, 
not to mention the possible chemical change that may 
happen by the formation of a chloral alcohol- 
ate." 

" I should think a physician would not make such a 
mistake/' said the Junior. 

" There is no telling what the doctors may do. In 
pharmacy, as in many other callings, eternal vigilance 
is the only guarantee of success." 

After these words the Proprietor walked to the 
" percolating- table," by which name he called a table 
on which a number of upright iron rods were fastened 
to hold rings of various sizes for percolators, funnels, 
or other implements. 

" Here is another part of our pharmaceutical work," 
he said, "closely allied to tincture-making, and yet 
different in many ways. This percolator holds fifteen 
hundred grammes of powdered cascara sagrada bark, 
which has been exhausted by a menstruum of diluted 
alcohol. We wish to make fifteen hundred cubic cen- 
timetres of fluid extract of it, and reserved the fii>t 
twelve hundred cubic centimetres, which naturally 
contains the largest amount of extractive matter. The 
balance — a rather larger quantity, as percolation was 
continued until the drug was exhausted — must be 
evaporated to a soft extract and then be dissolved in 
the reserved portion. Let us, therefore, proceed to 
evaporate it." 

The Junior poured the percolate into a large evap- 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 81 

orating-dish, put it on the gas-stove, and proceeded to 
light the gas. 

" Wait a minute/' said the Proprietor. u From 
what I told you before, you should know that nothing 
will destroy the delicate extractive principles of drugs 
quicker than heat. We should, therefore, be extremely 
careful not to expose this tincture to the possibility of 
boiling. It is true the ' Pharmacopoeia' gives no 
instruction how to evaporate this particular prep- 
aration." 

" Take a water-bath/' said the Senior. 

The Junior was undecided what to do. 

" A water-bath," said the Proprietor, " is an arrange- 
ment by which water is put between the flame and the 
article to be warmed, for the purpose of keeping the 
temperature at a desired degree. Various apparatus, 
mostly of copper, have been devised for this purpose, 
but we can just as well improvise one. This old iron 
evaporating-dish, that on account of the cracked enamel 
is not fit for anything else, will furnish a good water- 
bath. We fill it partly with water and insert in it a 
pan with our percolate, putting three corks between 
the two dishes to keep the inner one from moving. 
As the water evaporates, these corks will be wedged 
between the two dishes and hold the inner one in sus- 
pension, so that it cannot sink to the bottom of the 
outer one. The heat of the flame is now first imparted 
to the water, and from there to the inner dish, and can, 
therefore, not warm the latter to more than 212° F., — 

6 



82 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

that is, the boiling-point of water. But by putting a 
thermometer in the tincture and watching the tempera- 
ture, we can easily regulate the latter by either turning 
the gas lower or by adding occasionally a little cold 
water to the bath. Instead of a water-bath, a sand- 
bath is occasionally used by placing the evaporating- 
dish on a pan with sand, thereby reducing the intense 
heat of the flame." 

" I remember/' said the Junior, " of having read 
about an oil-bath. For what purpose is that used ?" 

" From what I told you," said the Proprietor, " you 
will see that the highest temperature obtainable for the 
inner dish is the boiling-point of the liquid which sur- 
rounds it, in our case 212° F., or 100° C, as we use 
water. The boiling-point of different liquids varies, 
being, for instance, 78° C. for alcohol, 103° for a solu- 
tion of salt in water, 165° for glycerin, and 170° for oil 
of turpentine. If it is, therefore, desired to keep an 
article at a fixed temperature, we ascertain what liquid 
will boil at that temperature and use it as a bath. In 
this way we can speak of oil-baths, alcohol-baths, and 
so on; in pharmacy, however, no other baths than 
water-baths are generally used." 

As the Proprietor stopped in his explanations with- 
out preparing the desired water-bath himself, contrary 
to his habit of always accompanying an instruction by 
practical demonstration, the Junior asked, somewhat 
impatiently : " Shall I prepare the water-bath ?" 

" Not yet," said his Preceptor. " In evaporating 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 83 

this percolate to a soft extract what do we drive off by 
heat?" 

" Alcohol and water," was the reply. 

" Certainly, and alcohol is a valuable article, worth 
being recovered. We should, therefore, for economy's 
sake, put this liquid in a still, or so-called alcohol re- 
claimer, of which various kinds are in use, the best one 
being the one recommended by Professor Remington in 
his book on ' Pharmacy.' But in the absence of a 
regular still we can easily prepare one ourselves." 

So saying, he took two Florence flasks of the capacity 
of two quarts, and fitted into the neck of each one a 
perforated rubber stopper. A glass tube of the size 
of the perforation was then held into a gas-flame, and, 
after being moved about a short while, bent at a right 
angle, at about six inches from the end. The other 
end was then treated in the same way. Both ends of 
this tube were now inserted into the two perforated 
corks, and, after pouring the percolate into one of the 
bottles, both stoppers were tightly put on the bottles, so 
that the glass tube formed a connection between them. 
The cork of the empty flask was provided with a 
second perforation, through which a small glass tube 
passed, serving as a safety-valve. The filled bottle 
was now put in the pan with the water-bath, which 
stood on the gas-stove, and the other bottle in a round 
tin pail of convenient size, which again was put into 
an empty evaporating-pan similar to the first one. 
The empty Florence flask was then tied down to the 



84 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 



bottom of the pail, cold water poured into the latter 
and small pieces of ice packed around the bottle. A 
possible overflow was caught up in the large evapo- 
rating-dish. 

" There," said the Proprietor, "we have a home- 
made still, inexpensive, but perfectly serviceable. 

Light the gas now." 

Fig. 2. 





The Junior did so, and after a while the alcohol and 
water commenced to evaporate out of the percolate, the 
vapors passed through the glass tube and, on reaching 
the cooled receiver, condensed quickly. 

" Are all fluid extracts made in this way ?" asked 
the Junior. 

"The principle is the -same with all," replied the 
Proprietor, " although the menstruum varies greatly, 
ranging from pure water, in the case of chestnut leaves 
and couch-grass, to pure alcohol. Generally the amount 
of alcohol is predominating, often glycerin is added, 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 85 

sometimes acetic acid, and sometimes ammonia water. 
It would be a good study for you to find the reasons, 
why and where these various additions are made. But 
in all cases the first percolate is put aside and the re- 
mainder — sometimes a considerable quantity — evapo- 
rated to a soft extract. In doing this the heat must in 
most cases not rise beyond 50° C. or 122° F., while in 
some, like ours here, a higher temperature is permissi- 
ble. Seeing the process of distillation before you, can 
you give me a definition of the word ?" 

After a moment's thinking, the Junior replied : 
"Distillation is the process of evaporating a liquid, 
conducting the vapors into another vessel, and con- 
densing them by means of low temperature." 

" And what is the object of distillation ?" 

" To take away the liquid," said the Junior, " and 
thereby gain a solid extract." 

"Your definition fits the operation before you. 
Sometimes a more volatile liquid is separated from a 
less volatile one. In most cases the distilled liquid is 
the product desired, as in distilling alcohol from grain ; 
sometimes the solid residue is wanted, although in that 
case simple evaporation can be resorted to ; sometimes, 
as here, both the distilled part aud the residue are pre- 
served. Can we distil solids as we do liquids ?" 

" I do not think so," was the answer. 

" There are some solids," continued the Proprietor, 
" that will, on heating, pass into a gaseous state with- 
out first becoming liquid, as is generally the case, and 



86 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

others that, when liquefied, quickly become gaseous by 
a slight rise of temperature, and whose vapors can be 
condensed again to powder. The process of doing this 
is called "sublimation," from a Latin word, meaning 
"carrying over." Sulphur is gained in this way from 
the ore, and we speak, therefore, of sublimed sulphur. 
In the preparation of calomel sublimation is employed, 
and ammonium chloride can be purified by the same 
process. But let us now return to our fluid ex- 
tract." 

" How can you tell when enough of the liquid has 
distilled over?" asked the Junior. 

The Proprietor replied : " Experience alone will 
tell you. Our preparation has nearly reached that 
point." 

" The ' Pharmacopoeia' says : ( Evaporate to a soft ex- 
tract/ while the contents of the flask are very liquid," 
interposed the Junior. 

" They are so," replied the Proprietor, " on account 
of the heat. If we allow them to cool, a soft, thick 
extract would be the result. I now stop the distilla- 
tion and take the apparatus apart. Before the extract 
cools, we now pour some of the reserved portion into it 
and mix the two liquids. Then we pour all together, 
and if not quite fifteen hundred cubic centimetres, add 
enough of diluted alcohol to make this quantity." 

" Is it now ready for use ?" 

" Not yet. Nearly all fluid extracts will form a de- 
posit on standing, and should be filtered before being 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 87 

used. As we do not need this one at once we will put 
it aside for a month or two." 

" If we had kept the soft extract alone, would it 
have been a solid extract of cascara sagrada ?" asked 
the Junior. 

" As there is no solid extract official, we might pre- 
pare it by evaporating the fluid extract at a low tem- 
perature. As a matter of fact, only one official solid 
extract is made in that way, — the extract of ergot." 

" How are the extracts generally made ?" asked the 
Junior. 

a To give a general formula," said the Proprietor, 
" is almost impossible, as there is a great deal of diver- 
sity in their preparation. The modus operandi is uni- 
form only in so far as the drugs are exhausted in a 
percolator and the liquid evaporated to the proper 
consistency. The menstruum ranges from pure alcohol, 
as in aconite and cannabis indica, through all stages of 
mixtures of alcohol and water to pure water, as in 
opium, gentian, dandelion, and some others. Gener- 
ally the amount of alcohol is predominant. In some 
cases acetic acid is added to the menstruum, — for in- 
stance, in colchicum root and conium, — and some am- 
monia water is used in the case of purified extract of 
liquorice. Most extracts are of a pillular consist- 
ence, but a few, like aloes, krameria, and colocynth, 
are evaporated to dryness and appear in powdered 
form." 

"How can you tell that the extracts are always 



88 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

of the same strength ?" asked the inquisitive young 
man. 

" The truth is, we generally cannot tell," answered 
the Proprietor. " Even if we suppose that the com- 
plicated procedure of preparing them is always done 
with the same perfection and exactness, and the result- 
ing extract of the same physical appearance, we have 
no proof of its uniformity as a remedial agent. Take, 
for instance, the extract of digitalis. How do we 
know that the leaves, bought at different seasons, from 
different jobbers, being of uncertain age, and coming, 
probably, from different sources, contain always the 
same amount of digitalin and other active principles, 
the dose of which is so small that even a slight varia- 
tion in their quantity would produce different re- 
sults.'' 

" Why can we not assay them all, as we do the nux 
vomica and opium," asked the Senior. 

"To standardize all our pharmaceutical prepara- 
tions," said the Proprietor,. "not only the extracts, but 
also the tinctures and liquors and fluid extracts, is one 
of the tasks of future education and research. At 
present the methods to do so are limited to a few 
drugs, — those that you mentioned and some others ; 
but there is no doubt that further progress will be 
made in this direction, and our ' Pharmacopoeia' will 
before long contain directions for assaying and testing 
every preparation on our shelves. Some wholesale 
houses have already commenced to offer assayed drugs 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 89 

for percolation, adopting a standard of their own 
wherever no official strength is given. Only after 
such standardization becomes general can we think of 
adopting official doses in our ' Pharmacopoeia.' 

" From the mode of preparing fluid and solid ex- 
tracts you will see that they both are concentrated 
preparations. The former are made according to a 
fixed principle, each centimetre of the fluid representing 
a gramme of the drug, while the latter vary in this re- 
spect. The dose of both is, therefore, smaller than that 
of most other preparations of the same drug. Speak- 
ing of extracts, I may add that the active parts of some 
drugs are not soluble in either alcohol or water, and 
must be extracted by other solvents, like ether or ben- 
zin. The former is generally employed. These ex- 
tracts are called oleoresins, and consist, as the name 
implies, of oil holding resin in solution. They are 
mostly thick liquids, and will not decompose on keep- 
ing. Their preparation is the same as that of solid ex- 
tracts, using ether as solvent ; but, owing to the great 
volatility of the ether and the inflammability of its 
vapors, great care is required in their preparation, and 
pharmacists, as a rule, prefer to buy them, especially 
as only small quantities are used. Now use the next 
half-hour looking up the various extracts and oleoresins 
of the ' Pharmacopoeia/ " 

With these words he turned towards the store. 

" I tell you," said the Junior, after a while, " I com- 
mence to like the old man. At first I did not care 



90 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

much for this position ; and, after I had been here two 
days, I thought of leaving." 

" Why, what was the matter ?" asked the Senior. 

" Well, you see I must here do lots of things that 
anywhere else they don't ask me to do. And there is 
no fooling or idling around, but solid work from 
morning to night. But, then, after you get used to it, 
it does not seem so hard, and you find out that you 
are not only doing every-day drudgery, but learning a 
good deal." 

" Certainly," said the Senior ; " you learn more here 
in four weeks than you do in most stores in a year." 

"That's just what I think," replied the Junior. 
" In my former position I did nothing all summer but 
sell soda-water, and I do not think that they had a 
percolator in the house. Every tincture was made 
from fluid extracts. Here you are shown everything 
and told how to do it, and why it should be so done." 

" Yes," continued the Senior, " and you feel that the 
old man takes an interest in you and enjoys teaching 
you, even if he does get mad sometimes." 

" That is another thing I like about him," said the 
Junior. " If anything is wrong, he just tells you ; and 
he does it in such a quiet and decided way that you feel 
he is right, and you've got to shut up. And after that 
he is just as pleasant as before. Now, I remember a 
boss who would call you names and growl at you for 
three or four days, and take every chance to pick at 
you and make you feel uncomfortable and sheepish. 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 91 

That is not the way to get the most work out of a fel- 
low. I used to think that pharmacy was the worst 
business of any, and that I had been a fool to go into 
it ; but since I am here I really like it." 

" And that," rejoined the Senior, " is the only way 
to success, as our Preceptor often says : ' Love your 
work and you will prosper.' " 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE OFFICE — ORDER — DIRECTORY OF SUNDRIES- 
ADVERTISING AMONG PHYSICIANS. 

Meanwhile, the Proprietor had gone to the rear 
part of the store, — into his " office." This consisted 
of a writing-desk and chair near a side window, ar- 
ranged in such a way that, by expanding a folding 
screen, it could be separated from the rest of the store. 
Here he spent an hour every morning, — to look over 
his mail, attend to his correspondence, and arrange his 
books. The nearness of this nook to the business part 
of the store enabled him to notice what was going on 
there, and whenever his presence was needed there 
was no delay in his appearance. The same system and 
order that we observed in his pharmacy also character- 
ized this little " office." Each letter of inquiry was 
promptly answered the same day and each paper put 
into its proper pigeon-hole. Invoices, statements, re- 
ceipts, all the papers had their fixed places and could 
quickly be found and referred to. In his financial 
affairs he was strict and punctual. Not satisfied with 
a simple cash-book, such as is found in many drug- 
stores as the only effort in book-keeping, he kept his 
books on the double -entry system and prepared a trial- 
balance every month. At the end of every six months 
92 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 93 

the whole stock was overhauled and a regular balance- 
sheet prepared. By this method he was enabled to 
say with precision how much profit there was in each 
month ; mistakes in overstocking were at once de- 
tected, expenses kept within their proper limits, and, in 
times of financial crisis, precautions in distributing the 
available funds were taken in time. A valuable book 
of reference with him was a small " directory of sun- 
dries," as he called it. In this directory was entered 
everything that came to his notice worth remembering 
in connection with the conduct of his pharmacy. The 
numerous trade circulars and advertising pamphlets 
that are daily offered in every store were looked over, 
and each new article offered for sale noted, together 
with the name and address of the seller or manu- 
facturer; while the latter was entered again under a 
separate heading. The titles of new and old books, 
and the names of their authors and publishers, also 
found a place here, as well as the addresses of other 
persons that it might be useful to remember. That 
directory, having been kept for mauy years, became a 
suggestive history of his business and a surprisingly 
rich source of information. 

" This book," said the Proprietor to a friend, who 
happened to see it, " is a dearer friend to me than I 
can express. To you or any other observer it is 
nothing but an index of names and things; but to 
me it is an esteemed companion, a silent reminder of 
my errors, a true mirror of my actions and achieve- 






94 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

merits. Many entries, it is true, are of only temporary 
interest, becoming useless after a while ; but others 
recall to my mind incidents and occurrences of the 
greatest importance or teach me valuable lessons. For 
instance, look here at this entry of about ten years 
ago. Capital was wanted for an improved machine 
for manufacturing certain chemicals. I thought there 
was a chance for me ; I invested a great deal of 
money in it ; I worried over it, exhausted my energy, 
neglected my business ; and, finally, the whole scheme 
turned out a total failure. I lost much ; but I learned 
the valuable lesson that the only safe way to succeed 
is to concentrate energy, ability, and capital on one 
business, and to let alone enterprises that are foreign 
to our domain, however promising they may appear. 
Now look at this page of the index to the book. 
We see the word ' Suppository/ and behind it a row 
of numbers, each denoting a page of the book on 
which the description of some suppository machine, 
or some other remark relating to the subject, can 
be found. Suppose I wish to buy a new machine. 
In an instant I have a series of notes before me, and 
can form an intelligent idea as to which to select. 
Looking over the pages of such a directory is as in- 
structive as it is interesting, and, considering that all 
such information can be gathered without the least 
expense and hardly any sacrifice of time, it is certainly 
astonishing that not every business-man has such a 
book." 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 95 

On this particular morning the Proprietor, after 
quickly disposing of his correspondence, was engaged 
in reading a number of type-written copies of a letter 
that he had prepared as an advertising circular to the 
physicians of the neighborhood. Proper advertising 
was considered by him one of the main elements of a 
successful business. But while many retailers recog- 
nize the importance of advertising before the public, 
they often forget those who should be first informed on 
everything new and valuable in pharmacy, — the phy- 
sicians. The correctness of this plan has long been 
acknowledged by the manufacturers of all kinds of 
medicinal compounds, be they official preparations, 
newly discovered combinations of old drugs, or new 
remedies. As a rule, little attention is paid by this 
class of advertisers to the retail pharmacists. Their 
salesmen canvass only among the doctors, and persuade 
these to order from the pharmacist — or to buy and dis- 
pense themselves — the various ready-made prepara- 
tions. Thus is the last and strongest column that sup- 
ports pharmacy — the preparing of prescriptions — 
slowly undermined and threatened with collapse, and 
with it the whole structure. 

To counteract this evil influence our Pharmacist 
adopted the same plan as the manufacturer, — sending 
the physicians, once a month, samples of preparations of 
the " Pharmacopoeia" or National Formulary (such as 
emulsions, elixirs, medicated syrups, suppositories, pills, 
or capsules). Or he selected fine specimens of some 



96 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

drug, with all the official preparations made from it. 
For instance, he would take cinchona, neatly arranging 
in a box the different barks, whole and powdered ; the 
extracts, fluid extracts, and tinctures, the alkaloids, 
pills, aud elixirs. Each set of samples was accom- 
panied by a letter, explaining and describing the drug, 
and setting forth, in a short, decisive way, the reasons 
why physicians should order the official preparations 
in preference to the semi-patents. By this method he 
had succeeded, in times of waning prescription trade, 
in not only completely maintaining his prescription 
business, but even in progressively increasing the same 
from year to year. For the forthcoming circular he 
had selected the " hypophosphites" as the subject of the 
advertisement, and had hardly finished reading a copy 
of the circular when an old friend of his, a physician, 
entered the office. Living in different parts of the 
city, as they did, the two friends did not see each other 
often ; but all the more cordial was their occasional 
meeting. After the interchange of greetings, the 
Pharmacist said : 

"I was just occupying myself with your confreres in 
my neighborhood, to whom I send advertising circulars 
every month." 

The Doctor took the paper and read : 

11 Dr. Blank : 

" Dear Sir, — The undersigned begs leave to send 
you two samples of syrups of hypophosphites, one 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 97 

of which, marked t A/ contains, in each teaspoonful, — 
2J grains calcium hypophosphite, 1 grain sodium hypo- 
phosphite, and 1 grain potassium hypophosphite. 

" The other, marked ' B/ contains, in addition to 
the above, — J grain iron hypophosphite, J grain man- 
ganese hypophosphite, ^ grain quinine hypophosphite, 
and 1J minims tincture of nux vomica. 

"Other ingredients could be added, if desired, or 
the proportions could be changed. The syrups are 
flavored with essence of lemon, but any other flavor 
might be used instead. 

" In submitting these samples I do not claim for 
them any superiority over similar preparations made 
by men experienced in pharmaceutical manipula- 
tions ; but I do maintain that they are not inferior 
to any of the numerous syrups of the hypophosphites 
offered to the medical and pharmaceutical professions 
by large manufacturing firms. My products contain 
the exact stated amount of each ingredient, and are 
prepared as palatable and pleasant as the nature and 
dose of each chemical will permit. 

" I am well aware that the agents of large manufac- 
turers of similar compounds, which are offered to the 
trade under various protected names, try to induce the 
medical profession to use and prescribe their prepara- 
tions in preference to those of the ' Pharmacopoeia/ 
thereby injuring the individual pharmacist to whom 
your prescription might be taken, and also the phar- 
maceutical profession at large, by subordinating it to a 

7 



98 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

mere commercial enterprise. I cannot, of course, re- 
fute all the arguments that are brought forward at 
such an interview without having been present ; but I 
beg leave to show you that my own preparations are 
not inferior to any other in regard to purity and 
price. 

" The chemicals in my syrup of hypophosphites are 
the purest made ; no others are used, and no higher 
degree of purity can, therefore, be obtained. 

" Pharmacists are often accused of substituting infe- 
rior drugs for pure ones, in order to save a few pennies. 
Let us suppose — for the sake of argument only, for I 
dispute the assertion — that human weakness is liable 
to yield to such temptation. Why should not the man 
who prepares thousands of gallons of a prescription 
yield just as readily as the man who prepares only one 
gallon ? In fact, he would yield sooner, because the 
motive to do so — namely, the possible gain — is much 
greater. But I deny that the honest pharmacist will 
substitute, whether he prepares large or small quanti- 
ties, and I use this argument only to show how effec- 
tively it can be turned against those who are only too 
ready to offer it. 

" The retail pharmacist is frequently also accused of 
charging exorbitant prices for his preparations. Noth- 
ing is easier than to figure out the cost of the material 
and compare it with the selling price. A bottle of one 
of the best known syrups of the hypophosphites, simi- 
lar to my sample i B/ costs, figuring after the formula 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 99 

on the wrapper and taking the prices of the chemicals 
from one of the latest price-lists, about nineteen cents, 
and thus, with the bottle, label, etc., about twenty-five 
cents. This price is based on small purchases, such as 
are made by retailers; but, since the manufacturers 
justly claim that they can buy considerably cheaper 
than the retailer, a pint of syrup, including bottle, 
label, etc., costs them probably not more than twenty 
cents. For this article they charge the physician or 
pharmacist eleven dollars and fifty cents a dozen, or 
ninety-six cents a bottle, whereas I will gladly fur- 
nish you a similar article for fifty cents. Who, them 
charges exorbitant prices ? The pharmacist, who sells 
for fifty cents what costs him twenty -five, or the manu- 
facturer, who sells for ninety-six cents what costs him 
twenty ? 

" I trust that you will kindly weigh the arguments 
set forth in this letter and give the products of my own 
laboratory a fair trial. 

" Very respectfully, 



"What do you think of the letter ?" asked the 
Proprietor. 

The Physician replied : " I cannot but admire your 
enterprise and commend this idea. Such information 
and admonition are very useful and beneficial to many 
physicians, and may tend to recall them from the 
wrong path. One thing is certain. If the present 



100 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

trend of pharmacy and medicine continues, and the 
animosity existing in most cities between the two pro- 
fessions increases, we will soon see a revolution in 
both. Pharmacy will be reduced to a mere trade in 
commodities; medicine will become a menial servant 
of manufacturers of ready-made medicines. But let 
us hope for a satisfactory outcome of this period of 
transmutation." 



CHAPTER VII. 

CLEANING BOTTLES — CRYSTALS — EXPANSION — BA- 
ROMETER — BENZIN AND NAPHTHA — GIVING IN- 
FORMATION DISPLACEMENT — ABSTRACT KNOWL- 
EDGE AND PRACTICAL APPLICATION. 

In the rear of the laboratory a small boy — engaged 
for cleaning, sweeping, running errands, and other 
menial work — was vainly trying to clean a half- 
gallon bottle, at which he had been working for some 
time ; and, showing it to the Junior, he asked : " How 
can I get this bottle clean ? There is a thick layer of 
crystallized sugar in it, that will not dissolve in water. 
I also tried to run a stiff wire through the crystals ; 
but they are so hard and firm that I cannot break 
them. What can I do with it?" 

The Junior meditated awhile, and then said, with 
an air of superior knowledge : " Don't you know that 
boiling water will dissolve sugar quicker than cold 
water ? Well, then, use boiling water." 

At this moment the Proprietor entered the labora- 
tory, and, hearing the last words, took the bottle out 
of the hands of the boy. After examining it, he said : 
" A bottle with a layer of crystals seems to be an ob- 
ject deserving little notice, and yet we can learn a 

101 



102 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

great deal from it. Many teachers — and among them 
even professors in colleges — think that the laws of 
nature can be demonstrated and explained only with 
the aid of expensive and complicated apparatus ; but 
nature herself provides in her works nearly all the 
apparatus that we need for demonstrating her laws, 
and whatever we construct in imitation or explanation 
thereof should be of the utmost simplicity. Let us, in 
this sense, use this bottle and its contents, and see what 
we can learn from it. In the first place, how did this 
thick and hard layer of crystals get in there?" 

When nobody answered, he continued : " Where 
did you get the bottle ?" 

The boy replied : " I found it in the cellar, on the 
shelf near the steam-pipe that feeds the radiators." 

" Exactly," replied the Proprietor. " On account 
of the heat radiating from the pipe I wanted that 
shelf to be used only for storing empty bottles and 
cans that are at convenient times to be returned to the 
wholesalers; but some careless young man put this 
bottle, partly filled with syrup of tolu, — as we can tell 
by the odor, — on the shelf, instead of putting it in its 
right place. It has stood there probably the whole 
winter, and all the water has gradually evaporated, 
thereby depositing the sugar at the bottom in solid 
crystals so intimately connected that it is almost im- 
possible to break them loose ; they are, indeed, ' rock' 
candy. What is a crystal ?" 

" Oh," said the Junior, " that is an easy one. A 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 103 

crystal is — is — for instance, the diamond is a crystal ; 
it has smooth sides and sharp corners." 

" How do the sides — or faces, as they are properly 
called— meet ?" 

" In straight lines." 

" Edges we call them. We therefore have this 
definition of a crystal : i It is a self-shaped, regular 
solid, with smooth, level faces, meeting in straight 
edges, thereby forming perfect corners and angles.' 
You can see a fine crystal of sugar in the middle of 
the layer in this bottle. Can you count the faces ?" 

" Yes," said the boy, " I can see three at a glance, 
and two more behind when I turn the bottle, and one 
on which it lies, makes six. It looks like a die." 

" No, not like a die/' said the Junior, "" for it is out 
of square." 

" You mean," added the Proprietor, " that the faces 
do not meet at right angles. The crystal is an oblique, 
four-sided prism." 

" Are there not many different shapes of crystals ?" 
asked the Junior. 

" Certainly, there is a great diversity. But they 
all follow certain laws in their formation, and each 
chemical substance has its definite form of crystalliza- 
tion. The science of classifying and describing crystals 
is called crystallography, and is a very interesting part 
of the applied mathematics. It is of great importance 
in physics and chemistry, and every pharmacist should 
understand at least its fundamental laws. In its prac- 



104 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

tical application, crystallography teaches us how to 
distinguish between the various minerals, salts, and 
other crystalline bodies. You will learn more of it 
later, at college. Let us return to our bottle. How 
will we get this solid mass of crystals, that have firmly 
grown together, out of it without waiting, perhaps, a 
whole day for their solution in water?" 

" I told him to use boiling water," said the Junior. 

" Heat will, of course, accelerate solution/' replied 
the Proprietor; " but is there no danger in pouring 
boiling water into this bottle ?" 

" It will crack," said the boy. 

" Yes ; and why will it crack ?" 

The two young people looked at each other in sur- 
prise. As if everybody did not know that boiling 
water was apt to crack a glass or bottle ! It seemed 
to them amusing to be asked such a question. The 
Proprietor read their thoughts from their faces, and 
continued : 

"To explain the cracking of a bottle by suddenly 
heating or cooling it requires the knowledge of several 
natural laws. In the first place, you should know that 
heat expands all bodies, — that is, they will occupy 
more space. Look, in different seasons, at the joints 
between the ends of the single rails of a railroad, and 
you will notice in winter a clear space between them, 
whereas in summer they about touch each other. When 
the builders of the road put the rails down, they took 
into consideration the temperature of the season, and 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 105 

took care to leave them sufficient liberty to expand in 
hot weather or contract in colder, and this precaution 
is taken in other iron structures, such as bridges." 

" Oh, I see," exclaimed the Junior ; " that is why 
the iron structure of the New York and Brooklyn 
bridge has an open space in the middle, covered by a 
sliding-plate." 

"Exactly," replied the Proprietor. "In summer 
this space is lessened, as the two central ends of the 
framework slide together. The difference of expansion 
on each of the three spans of that bridge, between the 
hottest and coldest days of the year, amounts to several 
inches. Now apply this to our bottle. The boiling 
water would suddenly heat the glass and cause it to 
expand." 

" But why should it crack on that account ?" 

" It does not expand evenly ; at least not at once. 
If one part or side of a thing is heated, it does not fol- 
low that all the other parts or sides must speedily be- 
come equally hot. The property of conducting a 
change of temperature from one part of their mass to 
another is possessed in very different degrees by dif- 
ferent substances. Metals are good conductors of 
heat, as you can see when you put a teaspoon into a 
cup of hot coffee. The handle of the spoon becomes 
hot very quickly, although it is not immersed in the 
coffee ; because the heat applied to the other half of 
the spoon is quickly distributed through the whole 
mass of the metal. If, in place of the spoon, you 



106 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

were to stir your coffee with a glass rod, you would be 
able to hold the upper end for quite a long time with- 
out feeling any heat, although the end dipped in the 
liquid would soon be hot ; for glass is a poor ' conduc- 
tor' of heat. Wood, porcelain, and cloth are also bad 
conductors, and are therefore used for making or cov- 
ering the handles of metal dishes or cooking utensils. 
In the case of our bottle this slow passage of the heat 
through the substance of the glass works destruction. 
The inner surface of the bottle becomes suddenly hot 
and expands, but the outer part remains cold, and the 
consequence is that the glass tears or cracks, because 
it cannot bend to accommodate its shape to this one- 
sided expansion." 

" So I must not use hot water ?" asked the boy. 

" You might, but in the proper way. You would 
have to warm the water gradually, so as to give the heat 
time to pass through the whole mass before any one 
part can expand much. This can be done quite safely 
by either pouring into it a number of portions of water 
of different temperatures, each successive portion being 
a little warmer than the preceding one, or, better, by 
a water-bath. But in our case there is another and a 
better way of dissolving this sugar quickly without the 
aid of heat. Observe my movements. First, I take any 
convenient vessel, larger in diameter than the bottle, — 
for instance, this wash-basin, — and, covering its bottom 
with a few inches of water, put it in a level position. I 
now fill the bottle with water to the very top of the 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 107 

neck, cautiously dropping in the last drops, so as to be 
sure that no space will remain over the water. Next I 
take a smooth piece of paper — for instance, this small 
powder- paper — aud lay it closely across the top of the 
bottle, closing it thereby. I now carefully turn the 
bottle upside down, while holding the paper in its 
place. You will see that the paper does not fall off 
when I now remove the hand which held it in place, 
and that none of the water rims out of the bottle. 
The inverted bottle is put in the wash-basin, where we 
have it standing on its head. No further work is 
necessary ; in a very short time all the sugar will be 
dissolved." 

The boy looked on in surprise, and said ; 

" I do not understand why the water did not run 
out of the bottle when you turned it over ; it certainly 
could have pushed the paper aside." 

" It could not in this instance, for the atmospheric 
pressure — that is, the counter- weight of a column of air 
as high as our atmosphere — kept it in its place. As 
long as no air was allowed to enter the bottle and take 
the place of the water, the latter could not get out. Do 
you know an instrument that depends on this same 
atmospheric pressure for its operations ?" 

" Yes, sir," replied the Junior : " the barometer." 

At this moment the Senior entered and told the Pro- 
prietor that a customer wished to see him. The Pro- 
prietor went into the store, where an excited lady, one 
of his regular customers, was waiting for him. 



108 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

Without further formality, she said : 

" I was here half an hour ago, and asked for some 
naphtha to clean my gloves. At home I found that 
the young man had given me benzin. Now, this 
same mistake has been made in other stores, where 
they subsequently told me that benzin and naphtha 
were the same thing. But I know better. I want 
naphtha. If you have none, say so ; but do not give 
me what I do not want. Benzin may be good enough 
for some things, but I do not want it." She put a 
small package on the counter and pushed it indignantly 
towards the Proprietor. 

" I will rectify the mistake," he said, quietly, taking 
the bottle and walking with it into the laboratory. 
After scraping off the printed label " Benzin," and re- 
placing it by a written one, reading " Naphtha," he re- 
turned to the store, and proceeded to wrap the same 
bottle in paper. 

"Let me smell it," said the customer, taking the 
bottle out of his hand ; and, after pulling the cork, 
held it to her nose. Then she said, with an air of sat- 
isfaction : " Yes, that smells quite different ; that is 
naphtha. I am very particular about my white gloves, 
and know that naphtha will clean them better than 
benzin." 

" I am very sorry that you were inconvenienced, 
madam," said the Proprietor. 

"Oh, that does not matter; I am much obliged," 
she replied, and left the store with a sweet smile. 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 109 

Behind the perscription-counter, meanwhile, the 
Manager grinned, with a decided " I-told-you-so 77 air, 
at the Senior, who was in doubt whether he should be 
wroth or amused. 

"You should label every article," said the Pro- 
prietor, " in such cases of synonymous names, with the 
name by which it is asked for. We know that in 
ordinary drug commerce the names ' benzin' and 
' naphtha 7 are used indiscriminately for a certain grade 
of petroleum oil, or something pretty close to it, which 
is usually the only grade of that kind of goods kept 
in retail drug-stores. It is a somewhat indefinite mix- 
ture of several light hydrocarbons, and should not be 
confounded with ' benzene 7 or ' benzol,' — a definite hy- 
drocarbon of another kind, gained from coal-gas tar. 
But many people, nevertheless, think that ' benzin' 
and ' naphtha 7 designate substantially different articles, 
of different cleansing properties. 77 

" But why did you not tell her, 77 remonstrated the 
Senior, " that both were the same ? Is it not our duty 
to enlighten the public ? 77 

The Proprietor replied ; " If that lady had been 
my clerk, or if she had asked me about the two words, 
I should certainly have enlightened her. But her 
confidence in her own superior knowledge is so firm, 
that it is better to humor her and see her go home 
pleased than to try to give an explanation, which we 
know she will not believe. If any danger, or even in- 
convenience, might have been caused by her error, I 



110 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

would certainly have acted differently. However, to 
give undesired information, which is apt to place the 
receiver in a ridiculous position, is, from a business 
stand-point, a very foolish thing to do. I need not tell 
you that I value the professional side of pharmacy 
much higher than its commercial side ; but, as long 
as, for the sake of self-preservation, we are compelled 
to be tradesmen also, let us not exhibit our professional 
standing in cases where it will do no good, but will 
drive our customers away by offending their vanity. 
If they insist on being ignorant, let them be so. My 
experience, sharpened by the occasional loss of a cus- 
tomer in former years, has taught me the wisdom of 
such action in many cases, and this was one of the 
cases." 

After these words he returned to the laboratory, 
where he found the boy and the Junior examining the 
inverted sugar-clogged bottle with evidently pleasing 
surprise. 

"What are you looking at?" he asked. 

" Why," said the Junior, " we can see how the 
sugar, dissolving in the water, is descending through 
the bottle in long streaks." 

" This process," explained the Proprietor, " is called 
circulatory displacement, because the top portion of 
the liquid, after dissolving some of the sugar, and 
thereby becoming heavier, sinks to the bottom, being 
displaced by another portion, which in turn goes 
through the same process ; and by this continuous dis- 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 111 

placement a constant circulation in the entire mass of 
the liquid is produced. Thus the sugar will be dis- 
solved very quickly, without any shaking or heating." 

" I am glad you showed us this," said the Senior, 
who had followed the Proprietor into the laboratory. 
"Of course, I knew something about ' circulatory dis- 
placement/ but I should never have thought of using 
it for cleaning a bottle." 

"You will see, then," replied the Proprietor, "that 
a mere abstract study of the laws of nature — or, 
speaking more generally, all purely theoretical knowl- 
edge — will serve us but little, however pleasing and 
elevating its possession may be. The world has 
greatly changed in this respect. There was a time 
when science was looked upon as something wholly 
distinct from and raised above the ordinary every-day 
interests of humanity ; the scientist's only aim and 
ambition was to learn, expound, and interpret, or, as 
Immanuel Kant expressed it so grandly, i to conceive 
the Creator's thoughts after him.' To seek worldly 
gain and reward was below his level, and some of the 
most eminent men of learning, in former centuries, 
lived in poverty, while they left to posterity an illimi- 
table treasure of ideas. How different is it to-day ! 
Every law of nature, every newly discovered fact or 
force, is at once pressed into service and utilized for 
gain. Mere theories are hardly considered ; whatever 
cannot be turned (o immediate utility is not thought 
worth knowing, and amounts to nothing in the esti- 



112 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

mation of our age. Ours is a practical epoch, and 
never before was the direction of research so bent on 
practical application as now. One wonderful inven- 
tion surpasses the other, and thousands of restless 
brains are working day and night to outdo each other 
in new and momentous results." 

"There, now!" exclaimed the boy; "the last piece 
is gone." 

The Proprietor and Senior turned around, and saw 
how the boy, with radiant face, lifted the bottle out 
of the wash-basin, pouring out the water, which had 
meanwhile dissolved all the sugar. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

INFUSION-JAR — EMPTIES — CLEANING BOTTLES — 
ECONOMY — INFUSUM DIGITALIS — OLD-FASHIONED 
PRESCRIPTIONS — NON-LUMINOUS FLAMES — DECOC- 
TIONS — LATIN PRESCRIPTIONS — STRAINERS. 

The Proprietor continued : " We often make use 
of this same process in preparing infusions, — that is, 
solutions of the soluble parts of vegetable drugs in hot 
or cold water, without ebullition. Bring in our new 
jar." 

The Junior took from the shelf a cylindrical imple- 
ment, containing a small colander hanging at the end 
of a long stick. 

" The ordinary infusion-jar," said the Proprietor, 
" is a most unpractical instrument, the drugs generally 
resting on the bottom, and to make a good infusion 
repeated stirring and straining is necessary. Another 
apparatus has been proposed, consisting of a porcelain 
jar into which a colander — that is, a vessel with a 
perforated bottom — fits closely. While this second 
article is superior to the first, it has the disadvantage 
of being only of a certain, fixed measure, as, for in- 
stance, a pint, and any smaller quantity of infusion 
cannot be prepared in it. Now, in most cases where 
extemporaneous preparations of infusions are required, 
as in prescriptions, only a part of a pint is wanted. 

8 113 



114 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 



For instance, in this prescription, which was left here 
awhile ago, to be called for to-night." 
He went to the prescription-counter, 



and returned 



with the following : 



R Sodii Bromidi, 

Ammonii Bromidi, aa gii ; 
Infusi Quassise, q. s. ad fjvi. 
M. Sig.— f^ss at night. 

"Let me first show you my infusion apparatus. 
It consists of five parts. The first is a cylindrical 
graduate holding one pint. The 
second is a wooden cover with 
a hole in the centre. The third 
is a hollow glass cylinder, two 
inches deep, fitting into the grad- 
uate, its lower end covered by a 
piece of so-called cheese-cloth, 
which is firmly tied around it; its 
upper end supported at two points 
by a string, to which a stick is at- 
tached, transversely perforated, at 
intervals of half an inch, with small 
holes, and of such a size that it will 
slide through the hole in the cover. 
The fourth part is a wooden pin, 
fitting into any of the perforations 
of the stick. The fifth part is a 
glass or porcelain disk with a num- 
Now, let us see how it works. 




ber of perforations. 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 115 

Six fluidounces of infusion are required. I pour six 
ounces of water into the graduate. Infusum quassise 
is not an official preparation, and we might therefore 
use the general formula for infusions not specially 
directed, as given in our ' Pharmacopoeia/ which pre- 
scribes for such a common strength of five per cent. 
The British ' Pharmacopoeia/ however, has an official 
infusion of quassia, usiog fifty-five grains of the wood 
to ten fluidounces of cold water, which is a little over 
one per cent. Fortunately, I know that the physician 
ordering this prescription is an Englishman, who 
wishes all his prescriptions prepared according to the 
British ' Pharmacopoeia. ' Without commenting upon 
the propriety of setting up such a standard in this 
country, we will proceed to prepare the infusion ac- 
cording to the British formula. For our six fluid- 
ounces we need six-tenths of fifty-five grains, or thirty- 
three grains of quassia." 

After weighing the desired quantity, he put it on 
the cloth of the small cylinder and covered it with the 
circular piece of glass. 

" This piece of glass/' he said, " is here used for 
keeping the quassia chips under water, thereby in- 
suring a more thorough exhaustion of the drug. I 
now slip this wooden rod through the hole in the 
cover, let the cover rest on the graduate, and, by 
means of the rod, arrange the small vessel in such a 
way that the water will just cover the drug. Finally, 
I put this little wooden pin through that hole in the 



116 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

rod which is next above the cover, to hold the rod in 
position. The rest explains itself. After the appa- 
ratus has thus stood the required length of time, we 
lift the inner part out of the graduate, and the clear 
infusion is ready, no straining or filtering being neces- 
sary. In our case we might also put the bromides in 
the cylinder, and let them be dissolved in the same 
way as the sugar in our bottle some minutes ago." 

" How did you get the small cylinder ?" asked the 
Junior. 

The Proprietor replied : " I took a small cylindrical 
ointment-jar, and, after heating the bottom by means 
of a blowpipe, plunged it suddenly into cold water. 
We have learned before that the result must be the 
cracking of the glass. If the manipulation be skil- 
fully executed, the bottom will thereby come off the 
little jar neatly and cleanly. In constructing this 
apparatus commercially I would substitute a glass 
colander in place of the cylinder, so that the cheese- 
cloth might be omitted, and also enlarge the diameter 
of the graduate to four inches ; for in the case of a 
bulky drug like buchu leaves our colander is rather 
small." 

The Proprietor went to the other end of the labora- 
tory, where the boy, assisted by the Junior, had put a 
great number of cans, jars, and bottles of various sizes 
and shapes on a large table, for the purpose of cleaning 
them. These " empties" had been collected during the 
preceding month, and comprised a great diversity of 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 117 

vessels. There were the usual containers for drugs, 
oils, or chemicals, as sent by the wholesale dealers, and 
there were bottles of all sorts, brought in by customers, 
unfit for the intended use. 

There was a pocket-flask, brought by young O'Flan- 
igan with a prescription, and the remark, " Father 
said to put it in this bottle," while the prescription 
called for powders ; there were wide-mouthed pickle- 
and mustard-jars, such as a little girl would lug in, 
asking for five cents' worth of oil of cloves; there 
were beer- and brandy -bottles, that had been proposed 
as containers for, say, a dose of castor oil. All such 
bottles had been exchanged by the clerks of the store 
for vials of proper shape and size, provided that the 
nature of the purchase would warrant such an ex- 
change. 

Besides these, a large number of dirty magnesia- and 
prescription-bottles had accumulated, and also con- 
tainers of the various semi-patents that are used in 
dispensing. 

They all stood on a shelf set apart for this purpose ; 
for in the daily rush of business there was no time to 
decide upon the individual usefulness of each article, 
nor was it practicable to sort and clean them every 
day ; this was done about once a month, whenever the 
shelf was full. 

The boy, young and inexperienced, was doing the 
work for the first time. After watching him for a few 
minutes, the Proprietor said : " Your method of picking 



118 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

up one bottle after the other and cleaning each in turn 
is not a good one. You should, in the first place, 
assort your stock. Whenever you see the name of a 
wholesale firm, of whom we buy, on the label of a 
bottle, put it aside. Here is one that contained collo- 
dion and this one potassium citrate. We send them 
back to the jobber, who allows us whatever he charged 
for them." 

The Junior interrupted him : " My former employer 
used to say it was not worth while to save these emp- 
ties, — ' the game was not worth the candle/ — and we 
generally threw them away." 

" Let us see if this game is worth the candle," said 
the Proprietor. " Here is a five-gallon can, worth sev- 
enty-five cents; here are two two-gallon cans, each 
thirty-five cents, — makes seventy cents ; here we have 
four one-gallon cans and demijohns, each twenty-five 
cents, — makes one dollar; here are three five-pint 
glass-stoppered bottles, at twenty-five cents each, — 
makes seventy-five cents; and a great number of 
smaller bottles, worth, together, about one dollar or 
more. All this, added up, makes four dollars and 
twenty cents at the first glance ; but the amount will 
probably come near five dollars. Take this twelve 
times during the year, and you have saved from fifty 
to sixty dollars. We send them in old boxes, so that 
the packing does not cost us anything ; nor does the 
expressage, for any expressman can easily be induced 
to take back empties free of charge, if he is promised 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 119 

all the business of the house. And even if we had to 
pay twenty-five cents for freight every month, it would 
not considerably reduce the amount." 

" Yes/' said the Junior, " you are right as far as 
such empties are concerned, for they need not be 
cleaned ; but look at the great number of other bottles 
that we have to clean. Are they really worth the 
time and labor ?" 

" I certainly do not recommend," was the answer, 
"the cleaning of any bottle, if it costs more than the 
bottle is worth. But such cases are exceptions. Let 
me here give you a little advice in respect to economy. 
I have noticed that you, as well as our friend the 
Senior, often look surprised when I recommend the 
saving of small articles, — for instance, a cork, or a 
filter that has been used only for alcohol, or a piece of 
tin-foil or wrapping-paper, or some twine taken from 
packages delivered by the expressman, or, as now, a 
bottle. You know that for all of these little things 
I have separate places. I know where to put them, 
and, consequently, where to find them when needed. 
Now, each of these articles is very small and insignifi- 
cant in itself, and yet they amount to a great deal in 
the course of a year. It is the same as getting a small 
discount of one-half or one per cent, on your purchases. 
Remember that the time has long passed when every 
article that the pharmacist touched turned to gold. 
To succeed to-day means to work and to save, and 
therefore you should never forget that in a retail 



120 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

drug-store there are sooner two hundred chances of 
saving half a cent each time than there is one chance 
of saving a dollar. 

" Now/' he continued, " let us look at our bottles 
again. After selecting the empties to be returned to 
the wholesaler, without being cleaned, we pick out 
such bottles as are of no use whatsoever to us, — for 
instance, prescription-bottles with the name of another 
firm blown in the glass, or empty pickle-jars and 
patent-medicine bottles, that some foolish customers 
will sometimes bring in. All these are to be put into 
a separate barrel, to be sold to a junk-man for what- 
ever we can get for them. They need not be cleaned 
either. What is left can be used and must be cleaned. 
We now pick out the bottles and jars that can be 
cleaned with water alone. To this class belong all 
the bottles that contained medicated syrups or elixirs. 
Here, for instance, are two bottles of hypophosphites ; 
here is an elixir of lactopeptine and two panopeptones, 
and many similar preparations that the pharmacist of 
to-day has to dispense." 

" But what are you going to do with these bottles ?" 
asked the Junior. 

" They are useful for putting up benzin, Javelle 
water, solution of corrosive sublimate, and similar 
cheap articles that we have ready for sale. We can 
get the same price for a pint of benzin, whether con- 
tained in an old bottle of Jones's hypophosphites or in 
a new prescription-bottle, and we save six cents by it. 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 121 

Fill these bottles with water, and then immerse them 
in a tub of water, so that labels and adhering syrup 
are loosened, and that they will be cleaned outside and 
inside at the same time. But here we have some bot- 
tles that contained lime water, as we see by the label, 
and which are coated inside with a white precipitate. 
How can we clean these?" 

" With sand," suggested the boy, timidly. 

" I know a better way," replied the Proprietor. 
" Whenever there is a known chemical precipitate our 
first question must be, What will decompose or dis- 
solve it ? If we can find a cheap solvent, let us use it 
and save the bottle ; but, of course, if nothing but an 
expensive solvent, like chloroform or ether, will re- 
move the objectionable sediment, it is better to put the 
bottle into the junk-barrel. This lime precipitate is 
calcium carbonate, formed by the action of the carbon 
dioxide in the air on the calcium hydrate in the solu- 
tion. By using a suitable acid — say acetic or hydro- 
chloric — we decompose the carbonate and form a 
soluble lime salt." 

He poured a little water into the bottle and added 
about a drachm of commercial hydrochloric acid, say- 
ing : " See how the decomposition of the calcium car- 
bonate takes place at once, and how the carbon 
dioxide is liberated in the form of small gas-bubbles, 
while the water dissolves the chloride of calcium 
formed." 

You showed us before how infusion quassia is 



a 



122 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

made. Are all infusions made in the same way?" 
asked the Junior. 

" By no means," replied the Proprietor. " Quassia 
forms an exception to the general rule, which requires 
boiling water to be poured on the drug. A similar 
exception is infusion of wild cherry (Infusum Pruni 
Virginianse), which is likewise made by percolation 
with cold water. So is also the infusion of calisaya 
bark (Infusum Cinchonas), in which one per cent, of 
aromatic sulphuric acid is added to effect better solu- 
tion of the active principles of the bark. The ' black 
draught/ or Infusum Sennse Compositum, is, as the 
name says, a mixed or compound infusion, containing, 
besides the soluble ingredients of senna and fennel, 
certain quantities of manna and of magnesium sul- 
phate." 

"Why do we not keep these infusions in stock?" 
asked the Junior. 

"Because they will soon decompose, being made 
with water only, without the addition of some pre- 
serving agent. The dissolved vegetable matter will 
undergo fermentation and new compounds will be 
formed. How quickly this change happens you will 
observe in the common household infusions of daily 
use, — tea and coffee. What a change in the flavor if 
they are allowed to cool and then are heated again ! 
The volatile oil, on which the fine aroma depends, is 
gone, and nothing is left but a bitterish, stale, ex- 
tractive solution." 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 123 

"If coffee and tea are infusions, it would be the 
wrong thing to boil them," remarked the Junior. 

"Certainly," replied the Proprietor, "they should 
be treated as infusions. The coffee or tea should be 
suspended in hot water, just as I suspended the quassia 
in the cold water before ; and then withdrawing the 
source of heat and applying to the infusion-vessel a 
tight-fitting cover, the fine aroma will be retained in 
the drink and not be spread all over the house. How 
much better it would be if these and numerous other 
practical appliances of physico-chemical manipulations 
were taught in our schools in the place of some of the 
fragments of theoretical science that are now presented 
for study, and that require an already ripened intellect 
for their fruitful cultivation. It is certainly more grati- 
fying to a young husband to be refreshed in the evening 
by a cup of truly aromatic coffee than to be treated to 
a discourse of the constellations of Cassiopeia or Orion 
as an adjunct to stale coffee and indigestible food. 
But let us return to our pharmaceutical infusions. 
The only one that can be kept any length of time is 
Infusion Digitalis, which contains ten per cent, of 
alcohol." 

The Senior, who had here entered the laboratory 
with an empty bottle in his hand, had overheard the 
last words of the Proprietor, thereupon remarking : 
" And yet we see on most prescriptions for digitalis 
infusion the direction 'make fresh/ so that we must 
infer that the doctors either do not know of the alcohol 



124 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

in the infusion or have little confidence in its preserving 
power." 

" The cause of this," said the Proprietor, " can be 
found in a precipitate forming in the infusion on 
standing, which could easily mislead the dispenser to 
believe that it was the result of the decomposition of 
the active principles of the digitalis, whereas vari- 
ous examinations have definitely proved that it was 
caused by the cinnamon bark added to the foxglove 
leaves for flavoring purposes. In the present edi- 
tion of the ' Pharmacopoeia' this objection has been 
removed, cinnamon water being used in place of the 
bark." 

And turning to the Junior, he added : 

" Now, I have mentioned the four infusions of our 
' Pharmacopoeia' that are not made according to the 
general formula, — cinchona, digitalis, wild cherry, and 
compound senna." 

" How about this one ?" said the Senior, holding up 
the bottle he had brought in, with the label " Infusum 
Gentianse Compositum." 

"It is to be regretted," said the Proprietor, "that 
this valuable infusion, which was official in 1870, has 
not been reintroduced in 1890. You know that we 
see more of it prescribed than of any other infusion, 
and in making it I have always adhered to the for- 
mula of 1870, unless the British official preparation 
was specified. Compound infusion of gentian also 
contains alcohol, twelve and a half per cent., and can 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 125 

therefore be kept in stock. You will find the formula 
in the Dispensatories." 

With these words he left the laboratory. The 
Senior took the book and read the formula. " There," 
he exclaimed, " gentian, orange, and coriander ! Gen- 
tian comes from the mountains of Southern Europe, 
orange from Florida, and coriander from Italy and 
Germany. There was a good chance to show off; 
but when I knew everything he would not ask me." 

After weighing the three ingredients he moistened 
them with a sufficient quantity of alchol and water of 
the required strength, and packed the whole into a 
percolator, following the formula of the ' Pharmaco- 
poeia' of 1870. 

Returning to the store, he found the following pre- 
scription, which the Manager had just handed the 
Proprietor : 

R Radicis gentianae concisae, 
Kadicis calumbae contusi, 
Corticis cinchonae flavae contusi, 
Corticis cascarillge contusi, ana unciam ; 
Capsici pulveris, drachmas duas ; 
Aquae fontanae, octarios duos. 
Fiat decoctum. Ad colatum adde : 
Spiritus vini rectificati, uncias quatuor ; 
Syrupi, quantum sufficiat ad octarios duos. 
Misce, da et signa ; cochleare magnum ter in die, ante cibum. 

" This is an old-fashioned prescription, such as 
we used to see twenty-five years ago," said the Man- 
ager. 



126 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

" These decoctions," replied the Proprietor, " are 
little used nowadays, tinctures and fluid extracts 
having taken their places. Their unsightly appear- 
ance, large dose, and nauseous taste, and principally 
their unreliable and unstable character, have brought 
them into disuse, much to the disadvantage of the 
pharmacist." 

a That is a funny prescription," said the Junior; 
" the doctor first orders two pints of water and after- 
wards four fluidounces of alcohol, and enough syrup 
to make two pints again." 

" We will see about that," answered the Proprietor, 
" and get the drugs together." After these had been 
weighed, he continued : " What shall we do with them 
now?" 

" I suppose, powder them," suggested the Junior. 

" The prescription gives us full directions in that 
respect. After gentian we see the word ' concisse/ 
meaning 'cut;' and after the other ingredients, 'con- 
tusi/ meaning ' bruised.' We have the gentian in the 
desired shape ; all the other drugs, except the capsi- 
cum, must be bruised in an iron mortar." 

While the Junior prepared the drugs, the Proprietor 
put two pints of water into a half-gallon earthenware 
vessel, provided with a handle and cover. A tripod 
was quickly put on the table, and under it a Bunsen 
burner, attached to a gas-jet by means of a rubber tube. 

"What makes the flame almost non-luminous?" 
asked the Junior, after the burner was lighted. 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 127 

The Proprietor replied : " The gas enters the tubular 
burner at the lower end through a very small orifice, 
and would, if ignited there, burn like any other flame. 
But through these holes at the bottom of the burner 
air enters and mixes with the gas, so that, on igniting, 
the otherwise luminous incandescent carbon particles 
are at once converted by the additional oxygen into in- 
visible carbon monoxide and dioxide, producing at the 
same time an intense heat. By turning this little ring, 
provided with four holes corresponding to those of the 
burner, we can regulate the access of air to the burner, 
and produce a luminous or non-luminous flame at will. 
This same principle applies to the gas-stove we use so 
often in our laboratory. Now put all the drugs into 
the pot and boil them for fifteen minutes, the time 
prescribed by the ' Pharmacopoeia/ covering the vessel 
to keep the vapor over the decoction, and thereby 
exclude the air." 

"Are there any official decoctions ?" asked the 
Junior, and the Senior replied : 

" Yes : Decoctum Cetrarise and Decoctum Sarsapa- 
rillse Com posi turn. In the case of the former, the 
Iceland moss is first macerated with cold water for 
half an hour, and this infusion thrown away, to remove 
the bitter taste." 

" So it is," replied the Proprietor ; " but thereby a 
great deal of the medicinal virtue is also lost, and the 
gain is a very doubtful one. The compound decoction 
of sarsaparilla, consisting of sassafras, guaiac, liquorice, 



128 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

and mezereum, seems to be a remnant of former bar- 
barous pharmacy. The medicinal principles of guaiac 
wood are insoluble in water ; those of sassafras nearly 
so. Liquorice is nothing but an aromatic, so that the 
active constituents are reduced to sarsaparilla and 
mezereum. Why such an unsightly and unscientific 
preparation should have been retained in the ' Phar- 
macopoeia' is hard to understand." 

A peculiar aromatic odor, emanating from the de- 
coction-vessel, indicated that the boiling-point had 
been reached, and after the necessary time of ebullition 
the Junior turned the gas off and asked : " What shall 
I do next with it?" 

The Proprietor answered : " If we were to follow 
the direction of the ' Pharmacopseia/ we should now 
let it cool to about 40° Celsius, express, and strain. 
But, as you see, the doctor who orders this decoction 
has his own idea of drugs and their preparation, and 
wants us to follow strictly the directions of his pre- 
scription. What does he prescribe ?" 

"I cannot read Latin enough," said the Junior, 
embarrassed. 

The Proprietor replied : " If all our physicians 
would write prescriptions like this one, the study of 
Latin would soon become compulsory for students of 
pharmacy." 

" The average doctor does not know any more 
Latin than the average druggist," interrupted the 
Senior. 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 129 

"I am sorry to admit this lamentable fact/' replied 
the Proprietor ; " but the ignorance of others is no 
excuse for your own. ' Ad colatum' (namely, decoc- 
tum) adde' means ' to the strained decoction add f we 
must therefore strain." 

" Hot or cold ?" asked the Junior. 

"If we strained hot and added the alcohol, we 
would make two mistakes. First, hot water dis- 
solves more vegetable matter than cold ; the decoction, 
if strained hot and allowed to cool afterwards, would 
contain a copious, unsightly deposit. Secondly, if we 
added the alcohol to the hot liquid, it would mostly 
be driven off, for alcohol boils at 78° Celsius, or 172.4° 
F. For these reasons, let us allow the decoction to 
cool ; meanwhile, get the straining-rack/' 

The Junior brought a small wooden frame, about a 
foot square, with movable sides, provided with holes 
through which a small wooden pin could be put. This 
allowed the operator to adjust the frame to any re- 
quired size. Near the holes, at intervals of two 
inches, small pointed nails projected^ on which a 
straining-cloth could be suspended. After adjusting 
the frame over an empty funnel inserted into a two- 
pint prescription-bottle, and soaking the cloth in 
water, the decoction, which had meanwhile cooled to 
the required temperature, was poured on the cloth. 

"Why," exclaimed the Junior, "there is little more 
than a pint !'' 

" Now you see the correctness of the prescription," 
9 



130 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

said the Proprietor, " in ordering the other liquids to 
be added. What has become of the balance of the 
water?" 

"Well," answered the Senior, "some is lost by 
evaporation, and a larger part remains in the drugs 
on the strainer." 

The Proprietor handed the Manager the prescrip- 
tion, saying • " We will turn this over to you to finish, 
and direct our attention to some other aqueous official 
preparations that must be made." 



CHAPTER IX. 

MEDICATED WATERS — ODOR IN DRUG-STORES — EMUL- 
SIONS — MUCILAGES — MEASURING OILS — NAUSEAT- 
ING MIXTURES. 

The Proprietor turned to the laboratory, where a 
number of bottles had been put on the table. 

" By ' aquae' or ' medicated waters/ in the pharma- 
ceutical sense/' he addressed his assistants, " we un- 
derstand aqueous solutions of volatile substances, of 
which there are seventeen in our ' Pharmacopoeia/ 
made by five different processes, — namely, distillation, 
chemical decomposition, charging with gas, simple 
solution, and percolation through impregnated calcium 
phosphate. The first three processes are rarely used 
in an ordinary laboratory, owing to the inconvenience 
and expense of the necessary apparatus. The two 
official waters gained as a side-product in distilling 
the respective oils — namely, ' Aqua Aurantii' and 
' Aqua Rosse' — might also be made by dissolving the 
oils with the aid of calcium phosphate; or, better 
still, by shaking the oil in a bottle with warmed, 
distilled water ; and I know that a number of drug- 
gists make them in that way. If good oils are used, 
they are not inferior to the side-products of distilla- 
tion." 

131 



132 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

" What waters come under the second class, — chemi- 
cal decomposition ?" asked the Senior. 

" Only one, a new official preparation, — solution of 
hydrogen dioxide (H 2 2 ). It is made by decomposing 
barium dioxide with phosphoric acid. Barium phos- 
phate is precipitated and filtered out. and small traces 
of the remaining salt are removed by sulphuric acid. 
The inconvenience of making this ' aqua' consists in 
the low temperature (below 50° F.) at which the work 
must be done. Aqua Chlori and Aqua Ammonise are 
made by passing the respective gases through water, but 
are rarely prepared in the laboratory." 

" But chlorine water cannot be preserved for any 
length of time without deterioration," said the Senior, 
" even when kept in dark bottles and in a cool place." 

" Very true," replied the Proprietor ; " and in 
pharmacies where much chlorine water is used it is 
prepared fresh every time by a generating apparatus, 
such as is described in the ' Pharmacopoeia.' " 

Pointing to a dark, amber-colored bottle on the 
table, he continued : " This preparation — ' Aqua Chlo- 
roformi' — is a good representative of a simple solution 
of a volatile substance in water. Do you know how 
it is made ?" 

The Senior replied , " By shaking chloroform with 
water, allowing an excess to remain in the bottle. 
Whenever some chloroform water is used, more dis- 
tilled water is added, until all the chloroform has been 
dissolved." 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 133 

" Very true/ 7 said the Proprietor, filling the stock- 
bottle again and agitating it, " and in a similar way, 
by simple agitation with water, 'Aqua Creosoti' and 
'Aqua Amygdalae Arnarse' are made. Now, of the 
last process of making medicated water, ' Aqua Menthse 
Piperita?/ which must be made to fill this stock-bottle, 
will serve as a good example. " 

Turning to the Junior, he continued : " Take a 
large mortar. Our stock-bottle holds five pints, or 
about two thousand five hundred cubic centimetres. 
According to the formula we need ten grammes of 
precipitated calcium phosphate and five cubic centi- 
metres of oil of peppermint. Put both in the mortar 
and triturate them well together. The object of this 
process is to divide the oil into innumerable minute 
particles, so that it will present a larger surface to the 
water. It is of the greatest importance to triturate 
thoroughly, in order to afterwards effect a perfect solu- 
tion. Now add the distilled water gradually, stirring 
constantly, and, finally, filter. Can you tell me what 
other waters are made by the same process ?" 

"Yes, sir," answered the Senior: "'Aqua Anisi/ 
' Aqua Fceniculi/ and ' Aqua Menthse Yiridis.' In 
the case of camphor water, a small portion of alcohol 
is used to powder the camphor before mixing it with 
the calcium phosphate." 

While the Junior proceeded to prepare the pepper- 
mint water, the Proprietor returned to the store to 
wait on some customers. 



134 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

" What a lovely odor there always is in your store !" 
said a lady who had just entered. "How do you 
bring it about ?" 

" Without the least effort or intention," answered 
the Proprietor ; " we make all our preparations in the 
laboratory behind the store. At present the clerk is 
preparing peppermint water." 

u Do you know," said the lady to a friend who had 
come in with her, " that this agreeable odor always re- 
minds me of a description that I once read of Solomon's 
Temple ? It was stated that the mortar used in build- 
ing the Temple was mixed with an exquisite rare per- 
fume, the odor of which afterwards prevailed in the 
Temple. Nowhere else was this delicate odor found, 
and its presence there at once invited the comer to 
worship and devotion. In the same way, how much 
pleasanter is this agreeable odor of drugs than the 
smell of tobacco or, what is worse, of liquor, such as 
we sometimes meet in ill-conducted pharmacies ! It 
not only bids you welcome, but makes you feel that 
you are in the right place, and fills you with confidence 
in the pharmacist." 

Turning to the Proprietor and handing him a pre- 
scription, the customer continued : " Will you kindly 
send this medicine to the house ? I will not be back 
for some time and the patient needs it sooner. Send 
also a bottle of your emulsion of cod-liver oil with 
hypophosphites. We formerly used a proprietary 
article, but our physician recommended yours as 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 135 

being just as reliable and, besides, a good deal cheaper. 
It is the one of which you sent him a sample last 
month." 

After the customer had left, the Proprietor returned 
to his clerks and showed them the following prescrip- 
tion : 

R 01. Kicini, ^iv ; 
Mucil. Acaciae, ^i ; 
Syr. Tolut., gss; 
Aq. Gaultheriae, q. s. ad ^iii. 

"This prescription," he said, "brings us to two 
other classes of official preparations, — the mucilages 
and the emulsions. The latter were formerly treated 
under the general heading of Misturse, and I consider 
it fortunate that the revisers of our ' Pharmacopoeia' 
have adopted a more accurate classification." 

" But there is no official emulsion ordered in this 
prescription," said the Junior. 

"Very true," answered the Proprietor; "but the 
whole prescription forms an emulsion, — that is, a 
preparation in which oils and oleaginous substances 
are suspended in water by the aid of gum or some 
other emulsifying agents." 

The Senior, wishing to show his knowledge, inter- 
posed : 

"Some official emulsions, however, like Emulsion 
Ammoniaci and Emulsum Asafcetidse, do not require 
any gum at all, the drugs being simply triturated with 
water." 



136 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

" And why are they prepared in that simple way ?" 
asked the Preceptor ; and, receiving no answer, he 
continued : " Because in those two cases the drugs are 
natural mixtures of gum and resinous or oily matter, 
so that all the ingredients for an emulsion are already 
present. In fact, the juice of the plants is a natural 
emulsion, which, on exposure to the air, hardens into 
what we call gum. It might justly be called a vege- 
table milk. But the formulas for the two other offi- 
cial emulsions — namely, chloroform and almond emul- 
sions — call, in the one case, for gum tragacanth, in 
the other, for acacia, as the intervenient suspending 
vehicle." 

" Is it not the rule that the amount of the gum 
should be half that of the oil ?" asked the Junior. 

" Such a general rule is often given," replied the 
Proprietor, " and the quantity of water is then men- 
tioned as half that of the oil and gum together. But 
different oils require different treatment. Castor oil, 
for instance, will form a good emulsion with only 
one- fourth, or even less, of its weight of gum. Expe- 
rience is of greater importance in connection with these 
preparations than with any other class; therefore, 
whenever you prepare an emulsion, you should watch 
the process carefully, and remember the proportions 
of the ingredients and the result. But let us return to 
our prescription." 

" We have neither mucilage of acacia nor winter- 
green water," said the Senior. 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 137 

The Proprietor answered : " You know that all the 
official mucilages — that is, solutions of some gummy 
substances in water — are very unstable preparations, 
owing to the formation of acetic acid therein ; even 
when kept in well-corked bottles they l sour/ as the 
common expression is. It is for this reason that the 
( Pharmacopoeia' directs two of them — namely, Muci- 
lago Sassafras Medullse and Mucilago Ulmi — to be 
freshly made when w r anted, while the mucilage of 
tragacanth is rendered more stable by the addition of 
glycerin. The mucilage mostly used — Mucilago Aca- 
cise — also decomposes very quickly, and I therefore 
prefer to make it freshly whenever it is called for. By 
using tolu water in place of plain water, a more stable 
preparation is said to result. As it contains about 
half an ounce of the gum to the fluidonnce of finished 
mucilage, we must take that quantity of acacia for our 
prescription." 

The Senior proceeded to weigh the gum arabic, and, 
putting it into a perfectly dry, shallow mortar, waited 
for further orders. 

" We might be in doubt/' continued the Proprietor, 
" whether four fluidrachms or four drachms by weight 
of oil are to be taken ; but as the physician, with a 
carelessness so often noted in designating quantities, 
omitted to prefix 'fl.' before the quantities of Aqua 
Gaultherise and Mucilago Acacise, where fluidounces are 
evidently intended, we are justified also in taking four 
fluidrachms of castor oil. Now, in measuring the oil, 



138 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

let- me give you a little, but valuable, hint. You 
know that it is almost impossible to pour all the cas- 
tor oil out of a graduate, since, owing to its adhesive- 
ness, a considerable part of it — in cold weather often 
as much as twenty-five per cent. — will cling to the 
glass unless we hold the graduate a very long time 
over the mortar. This can be avoided by simply 
heating the graduate before using it. In our labora- 
tory, where we have running hot water, we can easily 
do this. I put a one-ounce graduate into a larger one, 
and let the hot water cover it for a while ; then I pour 
the water off, dry the graduate quickly, and measure 
the oil, pouring it out again at once, and you see that 
hardly any of it remains in the graduate. The reason 
for this is that the outer layer of the oil, touching the 
hot graduate, became hot itself, and in consequence 
more fluid." 

"Let me stir this," said the Junior, taking the 
pestle ; " it is the first emulsion that I prepare." 

" Aqua Gaultherise," continued the Proprietor, " is 
not an official preparation, nor would it keep, if pre- 
pared, like other medicated waters, from the oil, 
owing to a fungous growth in the ( methyl sali- 
cylate/ — the chemical name for absolute wintergreen 
oil. In the case before us we add two drops of the 
oil to the castor oil, and thus prepare the prescribed 
amount of wintergreen water at the same time with the 
emulsion." 

The Junior, resting from his work a moment, said : 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 139 

" Did you not tell us that a quantity of gum equal to 
one-fourth of the castor oil would make a good emul- 
sion? Why, then, did you take half an ounce ?" 

" Simply because the physician ordered half an 
ounce. To misuse a general rule of pharmaceutical 
manipulation by letting it induce us to change a pre- 
scription would be an unpardonable misapplication of 
knowledge. Add now one fluidounce of water, which 
is also more than the general formula indicates ; but, 
owing to the larger quantity of gum, a proportionately 
larger amount of water is required." 

After a while, during which the Junior stirred the 
mixture violently, a very thick emulsion resulted ; and 
by adding, first, the syrup of tolu, and then enough 
of water, under continuous stirring, the required quan- 
tity was soon obtained. Holding up the bottle, with 
snow-white contents, the Proprietor continued: "The 
prescription, as we prepared it, would read, rewritten 
in pharmaceutical parlance . 

01. Ricini, f^ss ; 
01. Gaultherise, gtt. ii ; 
Gum. Acacise, ^ ss » 
Syrup. Tolut., Igiv j 
Aquae, q s. ad f.^iii. 

" Kemember, also, whenever you are called upon by 
a customer to prepare a palatable emulsion of castor 
oil, that this combination of wintergreen and tolu, 
which I suggested to the doctor some time ago, 
surpasses all others, although two or three drachms less 



140 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

of acacia than this prescription calls for would be 
sufficient." 

"Why," exclaimed the Junior, tasting the pre- 
scription, " this is so pleasant that I would almost 
wish to need it myself. But no wonder ; it is I who 
made it." 

"The art of preparing nauseous medicines," said 
the Proprietor, " in a pleasant and palatable form, is 
comparatively new. Much study has been devoted to it 
of late. It is the tendency of our age to cover every- 
thing that is unpleasant in taste, and present to the 
senses only the beautiful and refined. This desire to 
hide whatever is offensive is not only noticeable in such 
small matters as prescriptions, but in almost everything 
around us, not seldom at the expense of truth and 
honesty. This latter should never be the case in our 
profession. To prepare an elegant, sweet elixir of 
iron and quiuine by omitting the quinine, or to claim 
the virtues of cod-liver oil in an elegant preparation 
that contains none, is mere deception ; and the unfor- 
tunate victim who sacrifices real medicinal worth to 
such outward elegance will in vain hope for recovery." 



CHAPTER X. 

WEIGHING TOLU — SYRUP OF TOLU — MEDICATED 
SYRUPS— SOURING OF SYRUPS — GLYCERITES — SO- 
LUTIONS — MIXTURES — PREJUDICE IN MEDICINE. 

" I beg your pardon," said the Manager to the 
Proprietor, holding a round tin box in his hand ; " I 
wish to make the concentrated tincture of tolu, and am 
at a loss how to weigh the necessary quantity of tolu 
without wasting any. The balsam in the box is al- 
most solid, and very difficult to handle." 

The Proprietor replied : "An easy method to weigh 
any quantity of balsam of tolu is the following : Take 
any convenient dish, — for instance, this small tin pail, — 
put hot water into it, and into the water the container 
with the balsam. If necessary, apply heat until the 
balsam is perfectly liquid. Now take some clean 
white paper, — a piece of wrapping-paper will do, — put 
it on a plate or pill-tile, and pour the liquefied tolu on 
it in a circle, so as to obtain a spiral band. Now ex- 
pose the pill-tile, paper, and tolu for a few minutes to 
cold, — in winter the air outside is sufficient, in summer 
use the ice-box. The tolu hardens very quickly, and 
we can then weigh any convenient quantity by cutting 
the band with the scissors." 

" And the paper adhering to it ?" asked the Junior. 

141 



142 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

" In the further process of making the syrup, the 
tolu water, for which this concentrated tincture is 
made, must be filtered, and the paper will thereby be 
removed. Should the almost insignificant weight of 
the paper trouble your pharmaceutical conscience, you 
can allay it by putting pieces of paper of equal size on 
the counter-scales." 

He poured out the tolu while explaining the process, 
and the Manager, after weighing the necessary quan- 
tity, — namely, fifty cubic centimetres to make five litres 
of syrup, — put it into a flask and added two hundred 
and fifty cubic centimetres of alcohol. He then held 
the flask over the flame of a Bunsen burner, removing 
it often to shake it and prevent the alcohol from reach- 
ing the boiling-point. In a few minutes the tolu was 
dissolved, while the small pieces of paper and other 
impurities floated in the tincture. He had previously 
mixed two hundred and fifty grammes of calcium phos- 
phate with seven hundred and fifty grammes of sugar, 
and upon this mixture he now poured the tincture just 
prepared, constantly stirring, to insure thorough in- 
corporation. 

" This mixture," said the Proprietor, " must be set 
aside in a moderately warm place to let the alcohol 
evaporate. This radiator here is well adapted for the 
purpose in winter, whereas in summer the warm rays 
of the sun will do the work. Afterwards we will add 
water, filter, and dissolve the sugar in the filtered tolu 
water. While this is going on," he continued, turning 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 143 

to the Senior, "you might tell us why we dissolved 
the balsam of tolu in alcohol, if we knew that the latter 
would afterwards be evaporated again." 

The Senior, radiant with joy to show his knowledge, 
replied : " Syrups are concentrated solutions of sugar 
in plain or medicated waters. Whenever the medi- 
cation is of such a nature that water alone will not 
readily dissolve the active parts of the drug, we use a 
tincture or fluid extract ; or, as in the case before us, 
we make one extemporaneously for the purpose, with 
the aid of alcohol. But the alcohol is objectionable in 
the syrup of tolu, and is therefore evaporated later on. 
By its aid the phosphate of calcium and sugar have been 
thoroughly impregnated with the tolu, which is by this 
process incorporated in the water." 

" Is there any other syrup that is made like syrup 
of tolu ?" asked the Proprietor. 

" Yes, sir," replied the Senior : " syrup of ginger, 
in which the official fluid extract is used. By a 
similar process — namely, forming the medicated water 
first, and dissolving the sugar in it, either by the aid 
of heat or by agitation — are made Syrupus Aurantii, 
Syrupus Aurantii Florum, Syrupus Ipecacuanha?, Syru- 
pus Senega?, Syrupus Scilla? Compositus, Syrupus Picis 
Liquidse, and Syrupus Lactucarii. We might add to 
this list Syrupus Sarsaparilla? Compositus, in which 
the medicated menstruum is made by mixing a number 
of oils and fluid extracts with water, and filtering." 

" And which are the syrups that are made by 



144 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

simply mixing the medicating liquids with simple 
syrup ?" 

The Senior answered : " Syrupus Rhei, Syrupus Rhei 
Aromaticus, Syrupus Acacise, Syrupus Acidi Citrici, 
Syrupus Kramerise, Syrupus Rosse, and Syrupus 
Rubi." 

" What other processes are used in making syrups 
of vegetable drugs?" 

" Syrupus Scilke and Syrupus Alii require diluted 
acetic acid to macerate the drug; Syrupus Althsese, 
Sennae, and Pruni Virginianse are made from infu- 
sions ; Syrupus Amygdalae is prepared from an emul- 
sion obtained by triturating blanched almonds with 
orange-flower water ; and Syrupus Rubi Idsei by dis- 
solving sugar in the expressed juice of the fruit." 

"Does this list exhaust the number of official 
syrups ?" 

" No, sir ; there are a number of medicated syrups 
containing inorganic substances, such as Hypophos- 
phites, Hydrated Lime, Iron Iodide, Iron Phosphate, 
Hydriodic Acid, and Calcium Lactophosphate. Some 
of these are made by simply dissolving the chemicals 
in the syrups, while a few undergo a chemical change 
in the process of preparation." 

"How is it that syrups will sour?" asked the 
Junior. 

"In preparing simple syrup," replied the Pro- 
prietor, "great care should be exercised to use the 
proper amount of sugar. If too little is used, fer- 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 145 

mentation is apt to take place ; if too much, some of 
the sugar will crystallize out, and the crystals after- 
wards attract more sugar, thereby rendering the syrup 
too thin, so that, in both cases — abundance or de- 
ficiency of sugar — the final result is the same. In 
some medicated syrups the proper proportion of sugar 
and water is destroyed in the official formula itself. 
Take, for instance, aromatic syrup of rhubarb. One 
hundred and fifty cubic centimetres of aromatic tincture 
are directed to be mixed with eight hundred and fifty 
cubic centimetres of simple syrup. If this latter be 
merely of the official strength, the mixture will con- 
tain too little sugar, and fermentation will thereby be 
invited. The recommendation to substitute glycerin 
for a part of the simple syrup, in such easily decom- 
posed syrups, on account of its preserving properties, 
seems to be a good one." 

u There are some preparations now," interrupted the 
Senior, " that are made of glycerin alone." 

"You are right," said the Proprietor; "but the 
glycerites, as they are called, are no substitutes for 
syrups. Yet, as you mention them, we may as well 
review them. Three of them are solutions of organic 
acids in glycerin ; do you know their names?" 

" I do," replied the Senior. " They are Glyceritum 
Acidi Carbolici and Glyceritum Acidi Tannici, both 
containing ten per cent, of the acids, and, thirdly, 
Glyceritum Boroglycerini, containing thirty-one per 
cent, of boric acid. Another glycerite that is much 

10 



146 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

used in making pills is the Glyceritum Amyli, con- 
taining ten per cent, of starch." 

" Besides these, we have two others/' continued the 
Proprietor, — " the glycerite of yolk of egg, Glyceritum 
Vitelli, being a mixture of forty-five parts of the 
yellow of eggs and fifty-five parts of glycerin ; and 
the Glyceritum Hydrastis, being a mixture of equal 
parts of glycerin and a preparation of hydrastis, re- 
sembling a fluid extract. It was introduced in the 
' Pharmacopoeia' to replace similar proprietary arti- 
cles, and put among the glycerites, although it hardly 
belongs there, if we define this term as a solution of 
some medicinal substance in glycerin." 

" What advantage have these glycerites over other 
preparations ?" asked the Junior. 

"Glycerin possesses a number of properties that 
make it a desirable vehicle or solvent of medicinal 
substances. If used externally, as the glycerite of 
carbolic acid and boroglycerin, it will not, like ether, 
alcohol, or water, dry up, but remains permanently 
liquid. It therefore resembles the fixed oils, without 
sharing their tendency to become rancid. If used 
internally, its sweetish and not unpleasant taste, its 
great preservative influence, which not only protects 
against oxidation, but also against fermentation by its 
destructive agency on low animal life, render it very 
valuable. To these advantages must be added its 
great solvent power, sometimes surpassing that of 
alcohol and water. Its use in pharmacy and medi- 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 147 

cine is comparatively recent, but is extended with 
every new edition of our i Pharmacopoeia/ replacing 
gradually sugar and honey." 

" But honey is still official/' interposed the Senior. 

" So it is, — namely, as clarified honey, Mel Despu- 
matum ; and honey of roses, Mel Rosse. The former 
contains now, according to our ' Pharmacopoeia/ five 
per cent, of glycerin, but in reality much more, and the 
latter is a mixture of fluid extract of rose with honey, 
formerly much used, but now in little demand." 

"I often wondered," said the Senior, "at some of 
the prescriptions of one of our physicians, who orders 
a number of salts to be dissolved in a syrup which is 
already a saturated solution of sugar." 

" This one, for instance," said the Proprietor, point- 
ing to a three-ounce prescription that had been pre- 
pared before, and showing them the prescription, 
which read : 

R Chloral, 5 ii ; 

Ammon. Brom., gii; 

Potass. Brom., gii ; 

Sod. Brom., gii ; 

Calci. Brom., ^ii. 

Syr. Aurant. Cort , q. s. ad f^iii. 

" If you put all these salts into a mortar with the 
syrup and stir it, it will take a very long time to dis- 
solve them ; but by applying heat the solution is 
effected quickly, and no crystallization takes place on 
cooling. This prescription teaches us that a liquid 



148 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

may be saturated with one chemical and yet be able to 
dissolve others. There are even cases where the pres- 
ence of one soluble body increases the solubility of 
another. For instance, a water holding ammonium 
chloride in solution will dissolve more corrosive sub- 
limate than distilled water." 

" Is there any definite rule or law about the solu- 
bility of bodies ?" asked the Senior. 

"No such law is known," replied the Proprietor. 
" We know that certain conditions, such as temper- 
ature, will exercise an influence on the solubility of 
bodies ; we also have experimentally determined the 
solubility of almost every solid and gas in various 
liquids. But a natural law or formula, by which we 
can, beforehand, assert that such a solid must be sol- 
uble in such a liquid in a certain proportion, is not yet 
known. I do not doubt that there is such a law, for 
Nature is not guided by chance or fancy ; nor do I 
doubt that this general law of solubility will some day 
be discovered. Our ignorance in this matter shows us 
how jealously and carefully Nature guards her secrets, 
and we must quietly wait either for her favorite son, 
who may, by frolicsome flattery, steal into her confi- 
dence, or the mental giant who, by superhuman 
thought, forces her into submission and makes her 
reveal her secrets." 

After these words he went into the store, where a 
customer had asked for him. 

" I have a prescription here," said the customer, 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 149 

"that I want you to prepare, provided you will do it 
in the right way. I have used this medicine against 
indigestion for a number of years, and when my 
physician gave me the prescription he said it would be 
a perfectly clear solution. Now, in some pharmacies 
they gave me an unsightly, turbid mixture, and 
claimed that the prescription calls for it ; and of late 
I have also occasionally noticed a peculiar sweetish 
taste that was absent in the mixture as first prepared. 
Take a copy of the prescription. I wish to keep the 
original. Can you compound it so as to obtain a bright 
and clear preparation ?" 

The Proprietor looked at the prescription, and re- 
plied : " Certainly ; it will be ready in a few minutes." 
And he proceeded at once to prepare it, without paying 
any attention to the doubtful looks of the Senior, who 
had read the prescription and seemed to be of a dif- 
ferent opinion. 

When the customer received the medicine he in- 
sisted on tasting it, to allay his suspicion, and then 
left, perfectly satisfied. There being no other business 
at hand, the Proprietor asked the Senior whether he 
thought there was anything wrong with the medicine. 

"Well," said the Senior, "you certainly did not 
use the rhubarb and soda mixture of the new ( Phar- 
macopoeia.' " 

" Nor would it have been right if I had," said the 
Proprietor. "Let us look at the prescription again. 
Here it is : 



150 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

R Ext. Ipecac fl., tt\x; 
Mist. Khei et Sod., f^vi. 

" You ought to know that the official formula for 
rhubarb and soda mixture underwent a considerable 
change in the last revision of our ' Pharmacopoeia' by 
the addition of fluid extract of ipecac and glycerin. 
The first item was formerly often prescribed together 
with rhubarb and soda mixture, being therapeutically 
of great value as an adjuvant, and the glycerin has been 
added to make the preparation more stable, aud imparts 
to it a sweetish taste. The customer told us that he has 
had the prescription a number of years, and for this rea- 
son the older official mixture should be used, of which 
I still keep some on hand. By taking the preparation 
which is now official, we would not only change the 
taste of the medicine, but also the prescribed dose of 
ipecac, because of the ipecac contained in the present 
official mixture of rhubarb and soda." 

"But how about the clear solution?" asked the 
Senior. 

" The revisers of our ' Pharmacopoeia' evidently in- 
tended the slight deposits caused by the addition of 
fluid extract of rhubarb and spirit of peppermint to 
the aqueous menstruum to remain in the mixture and 
to be distributed through the supernatant clear liquid 
on dispensing. This intention is indicated by the call- 
ing the preparation a ' mistura/ — that is, a preparation 
in which insoluble substances are suspended by the in- 
tervention of gum arabic or other viscid matter. In 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 151 

those pharmacies, therefore, where our customer re- 
ceived a turbid mediciue, these instructions were 
strictly followed. But the majority of physicians and 
pharmacists prefer a clear, filtered mixture, and as the 
deposit is inert anyway, there seems to be no objection 
to such a procedure. You know that I keep both 
kinds ready, as our physicians differ in this respect." 

" By filtering Mistura Rhei et Sodse it ceases to be 
a pharmaceutical mixture," the Senior remarked. 

" You are quite right,' 7 replied the Proprietor ; " it 
becomes one of those compounds that are hard to 
classify. This is true also of the best-known official 
mixture, — Mistura Glycyrrhizse Composita, — which 
was formerly a muddy compound, owing to the copious 
deposit from the impure extract of liquorice used in its 
preparation. The l Pharmacopoeia' of 1890 substitutes 
for the latter the purified soluble extract, and simple 
syrup and mucilage of acacia for the sugar and gum 
arabic of the old formula, and, if properly made, the 
finished product is an almost perfectly clear solution." 

" I dispensed some of it the other day, and it was 
brought back," said the Senior. 

" So it was," answered the Proprietor. " The idea 
of a muddy mixture, to be shaken before taking, is so 
firmly associated with i Brown Mixture' that it will 
take many years to convince the public — especially the 
ignorant element of it — that the clear mixture is the 
same as, and even an improvement on, the old one. 
The conscientious pharmacist has to choose between 



152 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

strict adherence to the requirements of the ' Pharmaco- 
poeia/ at the risk of losing a customer, and yielding to 
general prejudice that will occasionally cling to firmly 
rooted habits and opinions ; for, as Schiller says, — 

" ' Man clings tenaciously to old traditions, 
Obe}dng Custom, his beloved nurse.' 

Where, as in our case, no danger is attached to giving 
the one for the other, the best way is to keep both 
preparations until, by constant reminding and explain- 
ing, the public gradually becomes educated to the use 
of the official article." 

The Manager, who was all this time engaged in the 
laboratory, entered at this juncture, and, overhearing 
the last words of the conversation, said : 

"Not only the ignorant cling to old prejudices, but 
also the learned and wise are guilty of such foolish- 
ness. Take, for instance, the word ' mistura.' The 
very word implies that the preparation should be a 
compound of miscible articles, — for instance, chloro- 
form and soap liniment, or potassa solution and water, — 
but it is officially used to designate preparations com- 
posed of ingredients that will not mix, reminding us 
of the famous ' lucus a non lucendo.' I do not think 
that any of the revisers of the ' Pharmacopoeia' thought 
of this anomaly, but felt convinced of the correctness 
of the venerable term, else they would have abol- 
ished it." 

" Are there any other official mixtures besides Mis- 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 153 

tura Rhei et Sodse and Mistura Glycyrrhizse com- 
posite ?" asked the Junior. 

The Senior replied : " Yes, sir ; there is the well- 
known chalk mixture, ' Misturse Crete/ made by add- 
ing compound chalk powder to water and cinnamon 
water ; also the compound iron mixture, ' Mistura Ferri 
Composita/ often called l Griffith's Mixture/ after the 
physician who introduced it. It is a compound made 
by the action of potassium carbonate on ferrous sul- 
phate, holding potassium sulphate in solution and fer- 
rous carbonate and myrrh in suspension. It is flavored 
with spirit of lavender and rose water. Both these 
mixtures easily decompose, for which reason the 
1 Pharmacopoeia' directs them to be freshly made when 
wanted." 



CHAPTER XL 

LIQUOR FERRI CHLORIDI — PHARMACEUTICAL CHEMIS- 
TRY — TESTING — OFFICIAL LIQUORS — WEIGHT AND 
MEASURE OF LIQUIDS. 

" What is this ?" asked the Proprietor, turning to 
the door of the laboratory, from which a peculiar odor 
emanated. 

" Oh, I forgot to open the flue/' said the Manager, 
quickly walking to the opposite side of the laboratory. 
Here, over a working-table, a conical chimney — com- 
monly called a " hood" — was arranged and connected 
with the main chimney of the house. It served to 
collect and carry off such vapors or gases as would, if 
dispersed through the building, contaminate the at- 
mosphere. Under the hood there was a small gas- 
stove, with a flame covered with a line wire-netting, 
and on this net a flask of the capacity of about two 
quarts, and containing a somewhat dirty, greenish, 
liquid, just beginning to boil. 

" This is going to be ' Liquor Ferri Chloridi/ — solu- 
tion of ferric chloride/' said the Manager, turning off 
the gas. " I put the iron and the proper mixture of 
hydrochloric acid and water into the flask, and after 
effervescence — that is, the evolution of hydrogen, freed 
by the action of the iron on the hydrochloric acid — had 
154 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 155 

ceased I proceeded to boil the solution, placing the 
whole apparatus under the hood, but forgetting to 
open the damper." 

Noticing that his younger associates were waiting 
for further information, he continued : " This green 
liquid is a solution of ferrous chloride, and would, on 
standing, deposit green crystals. The next step is to 
filter it," he continued, pouring the liquid on a funnel 
with a folded filter that he had previously prepared. 

" I know very little about chemistry as yet," said 
the Junior ; " but I must say that of all the different 
branches of pharmacy, pharmaceutical chemistry, or 
chemical pharmacy, — whatever you may choose to call 
it, — has the greatest attractions for me." 

" And it is really the most interesting and wonder- 
ful science extant," said the Proprietor, " and we phar- 
macists ought to cherish and cultivate it as much as 
we can. 

"Do you know that pharmacy is the mother of 
chemistry, and that some of the greatest discoveries 
of chemistry have been made by studious pharmacists 
in the quiet of their often very primitive laboratories, 
prominent among whom was the Swedish apothecary, 
Scheele ? Thus has chemistry been reared and raised 
by pharmaceutical nurses ; and it speaks well for those 
early educators that the infant has grown and devel- 
oped wonderfully and to-day stands before us in the 
full strength of manhood. But, like a dutiful child, it 
does not forget, in its days of prosperity, its modest 



156 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

mother ; and so we see chemistry supply medicine and 
pharmacy to-day with new and wonderful remedies, 
like a tribute paid by a rich, successful son in ac- 
knowledgment of the former benefits received from 
his humble parent. 

" And, indeed, chemistry is worthy of the attention 
of the greatest minds. Is there anything more won- 
fully simple, and yet mysterious, than the development 
of a chemical process ? Take, for instance, the forma- 
tion of a crystal. You see before you a clear liquid. 
There is no sign of life, no motion, no action. Your 
look is intensely bent on the fluid ; your mind bids 
you watch the hidden creative power, to lift the veil 
from nature's secret working. Suddenly you ask, 
' What is that V A fine needle lies at the bottom of 
the porcelain vessel. W 7 here did it come from ? Who 
put it there ? What mysterious power called it into 
existence? A thought of disappointment, of anger, 
flashes through your mind. Is not this your liquid ? 
Did you not prepare it? Why, then, was it changed 
without your consent? Who dared alter its nature? 
Alas ! that small, insignificant crystal suddenly taught 
you the limit of human knowledge, showed you the 
narrow circle of your mind, and forced from you the 
acknowledgment of submission to a higher, unfathom- 
able power. The unsolved problem of creation lies 
before you; the created object is there; the creator, 
whatever you may call him, far above your sphere, 
your comprehension. And before you recover from 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 157 

your surprise aud disappointment, there is another 
crystal, and a third one, too. From all directions 
they spring, like the many varied thoughts of an 
active miud, seemingly in confusion, and yet following 
a strict and distinct law, and forming beautiful and 
harmonious combinations. Your disappointment now 
gives way to admiration ; you bow before the wonder- 
ful powers and mysterious actions of Nature." 

"And yet," said the Manager, "there are but few 
that have such a bright and interesting conception of 
their profession, aud w-ho will engage in even the sim- 
plest chemical operation. In my long experience in 
the various positions that I have had, both as clerk 
and as manager, you are the first employer who 
prepares his own Liquor Ferri Chloridi." 

" I well know that this state of affairs does exist," 
said the Proprietor, "and I am very sorry for it. 
Aside from losing a good deal of money, those phar- 
macists forego some of the greatest pleasures that a 
professional occupation can afford. They are like 
men who own a fiery horse, but who, either through 
laziness or ignorance, will not mount it themselves, 
but rather force it into a clumsy harness, let a coach- 
man drive it, and, leaning back into the cushion of the 
carriage, exclaim in ecstasy, ' How beautiful it is to 
own a horse !' That is not my way. My steed and I 
are friends. He knows the touch of my hand, the 
motion of the bridle; racing over hill and vale, he 
feels with me the joy of seeing Nature all around and 



158 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

discovering new beauties at every step ; and while I 
let him trot and gallop in prancing buoyancy, I keep 
a ruling hand on him and guide his course. Thus I 
like to roam through the realm of chemistry and 
science, — no hurdle too high, no ditch too wide, no 
hinderance too difficult to overcome, — feeling and 
choosing my own way ; and what I observe and 
discover is my own." 

During this conversation filtration had progressed, 
and the solution of ferrous chloride was before them, — 
a clear, green liquid. 

" We now add more hydrochloric acid," said the 
Manager, " and then pour the mixture into a certain 
quantity of nitric acid, which will at once form a solu- 
tion of red ferric chloride out of the green ferrous 
chloride. Formerly the nitric acid was added to the 
solution of ferrous chloride, when a sudden evolution 
of nitrogen dioxide would take place with such vio- 
lence that for quite a while the whole laboratory would 
be filled with the noxious gas, in spite of all precautions. 
It took many years to discover that by reversing the 
order of pouring the liquids together the sudden genera- 
tion of N 2 2 could be avoided. Professor C. L. Diehl, 
of Louisville, I believe, deserves the credit of the 
innovation." 

" Is the solution now finished ?" asked the Junior. 

"No," said the Manager; "we must heat it again 
carefully on a sand-bath, to drive off all the nitrogen 
dioxide, and after that two tests are necessary. First, 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 159 

we put a clear crystal of ferrous sulphate into a mix- 
ture of sulphuric acid and a diluted portion of the 
solution. If a brown color is shown around the crys- 
tal, nitric acid is still present, and it is then necessary 
to heat the solution once more. Secondly, we test a 
few drops of the liquor with a freshly prepared test 
solution of potassium ferricyanide. A blue color in- 
dicates the presence of ferrous salt, and it will then be 
necessary to carefully add a few drops of nitric acid. 
Finally, we add some drops of nitric acid, of which 
the finished preparation must contain an excess." 

" Taking all in all," said the Junior, " this is rather 
a complicated preparation. Are all the official liquors 
so difficult to prepare?" 

" By no means," answered the Proprietor. " Some 
of them are prepared by simply dissolving a chemical 
compound in water, — for instance, Liquor Potassae or 
Liquor Calcis. There is no general formula for their 
preparation. Each must be prepared according to the 
characteristics of its ingredients, and more or less care 
is necessary with all of them." 

"Do they all contain metals?" the Junior asked. 

" With the exception of Liquor Ammonii Acetatis, 
they do. They are aqueous solutions of non -volatile 
substances, containing neither sugar nor oil, and form 
a bridge between pharmacy and chemistry. Let us 
see if we can name them. Ammonium furnishes one, 
— Liquor Ammonii Acetatis , arsenic two, — Liquor 
Acidi Arseniosi and Liquor Arseni et Hydrargyri 



160 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

Iodidi ; calcium one, — Liquor Calcis (lime water), one 
of the best known preparations ; iron, seven solutions, 
taking the lead among the metals." 

" Let me see if I know them all," interrupted the 
Senior. " Liquores Ferri Acetatis, Ferri Chloridi, 
Ferri Citratis, Ferri et Ammonii Acetatis, Ferri Ni- 
tratis, Ferri Subsulphatis, and Ferri Tersulphatis (use- 
ful in preparing a prompt antidote in cases of arsenical 
poisoning)." 

" Correct," said the Proprietor. " The next metal, 
iodine, furnishes one solution, — Liquor Iodi Composi- 
tus ; and mercury also one, — namely, Liquor Hydrar- 
gyri Nitratis. The Liquor Magnesii Citratis is well 
known to you as the only representative of magne- 
sium. Lead gives us two, — Liquor Plumbi Subace- 
tatis and Liquor Plumbi Subacetatis Dilutus ; while 
potassium furnishes us with three, — Liquores Potassse, 
Potassii Arsenitis, and Potassii Citratis. Sodium 
takes the place after iron, with four official solutions, 
— namely, Liquores Sodse and Sodse Chloratae, Sodii 
Arsenitis, and Sodii Silicatis; and zinc ends the list 
with one solution, — Liquor Zinci Chloridi." 

The Manager had meanwhile finished the iron solu- 
tion, and, holding up the one-quart stock-bottle, showed 
it to the other pharmacists. 

"Why did you not fill the bottle?" asked the 
Proprietor. 

" By an oversight," replied the Manager, " I started 
to prepare the solution according to the new i Pharma- 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 161 

copceia/ thinking that the formula called for one thou- 
sand cubic centimetres, as most formulas do. But in 
this case it calls for one thousand grammes, aud as the 
specific gravity of the solution is 1 .387, the thousand 
grammes by weight correspond to about seven hundred 
and twenty-one cubic centimetres by measure. The 
next time I will be wiser and make one-third more." 

" This is a puzzling thing to me," said the Junior, 
" this conversion of common weight and measure into 
metric weight and measure, and vice versa. It always 
takes me a couple of minutes to find my way through 
the confusion that arises every time in my mind when 
I hear about so many ' cubic centi metres' or ' grammes.' 
I would be thankful if you would explain to me the 
intricacies of this perplexing subject." 

" The reason of the perplexity of the metric or deci- 
mal system," replied the Proprietor, " is given in your 
question. As long as you try, in every instance, to 
convert one measure into another, you will vainly look 
for a solution of the problem. The metric system was 
introduced to facilitate weighing and measuring, and 
as a succedaneum for other comparatively cumbersome 
methods. The intention was not that it should be 
transposed into them." 

" But how can I understand what so many ' cubic 
centimetres' are," replied the Junior, " unless I convert 
them into fluidrachms and fluidounces?" 

a Tell me, first, why do you understand what so 
many fluidrachms are ?" asked the Proprietor. 

11 



162 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

" Well, because I know exactly what one fluidrachm 
is," came the answer. " I see before me the drachm 
graduate, with the delicate cross-lines and the figure 
one, and that tells me what a fluidrachm is." 

" Exactly," said the Proprietor ; " and if you will 
learn to see in your mind a graduate, with a small line 
marked 6 one cubic centimetre/ or l five cubic centi- 
metres/ you will at once know what so many cubic 
centimetres are; and after you have once impressed 
on your mind such a plastic representative of the 
cubic centimetre, the comparison of the two impres- 
sions — that is, of the two systems — is a very easy 
matter." 

" Well, I never thought of that," replied the Junior. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE METRIC SYSTEM — THE METRE — THE STERE — 
THE GRAMME — THE KILOGRAMME. 

" Before I explain the metric system to you," the 
Proprietor continued, " let me tell you of a difficulty 
similar to the perplexity under which you labor. 
Some time ago I had a clerk, just immigrated from 
Germany, who had the greatest trouble in getting used 
to our money. Whenever he bought or sold an article 
he figured out the price in 'marks,' the German 
standard, and, although he seldom made a mistake in 
figuring, he could not acquire a correct idea of the 
value of things. The reason was this : The silver 
value in our money of a ' mark' is about twenty-three 
cents ; but the purchasing power of money being dif- 
ferent in Germany from what it is here, the associa- 
tion of ideas in his mind concerning the ' mark' could 
not be applied to the twenty-three cents without 
causing confusion, and he never knew whether an 
article was expensive or cheap. In the same way 
there are certain traditions associated with the fiuid- 
drachm and the fluidounce to which the metric 
system — a perfect entity in itself — cannot be forced to 
adapt itself. As soon as you learn to consider it by 
itself, on its own merits, you will be surprised at its 

163 



164 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

simplicity, and feel ashamed that it took you so long 
to understand it." 

"We are always told that this new system is 
simpler," said the Junior, with the obstinacy of the 
half-informed, who tries to defend an untenable argu- 
ment against his own better judgment, " but I cannot 
understand why a subdivision into ten should be 
simpler than one into twelve, like the linear foot, for 
instance. How much easier it is to take fractions of 
it, like fourths, thirds, sixths !" 

" In the countries where the decimal system is intro- 
duced, people soon cease to ask for thirds and sixths; 
they ask for so many tenths, and the arithmetic be- 
comes easier. And do not forget that the universal 
method of counting is a decimal system, and we can 
hardly realize the advantage derived from the fact 
that every country of the earth uses it. What a con- 
fusion it would cause if England, for instance, would 
adopt a method of counting by twelves, on the plea 
of greater simplicity on account of its divisibility ; in- 
venting a new symbol for ten and eleven, and com- 
mencing the next higher order with twelve, and so 
on ! Whatever we think or talk or write about 
figures is so thoroughly connected with and based on 
the decimal system that the very idea of such a devia- 
tion from the universal rule appears ridiculous. If, 
then, in all our counting and figuring the decimal 
system is good, why not also in weighing and meas- 
uring? Has it ever been considered a hinderance to 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 165 

trade or commerce that the hundred cents which make 
one dollar are not evenly divisible by three or six or 
eight? Take any figure, — for instance, 12,345. Every 
child can at once answer the question, how many 
units there are in it, or how many tens or hundreds, 
and so on. But now ask how many gallons, pints, 
and ounces are in 12,345 fluidrachms, and it becomes 
necessary to do quite a little figuring to find the correct 
answer. You see, divisibility is nothing but a paper 
target for the piercing arrows of logical argument in 
favor of the metric system." 

"I understand," said the Junior, desperately looking 
for another straw of objection, "that a 'metre' is three 
feet three and three-eighths inches. Why did they 
not make it exactly one yard ?" 

" Fortunately, they did not," replied the Proprietor, 
"or the temptation might exist for each nation to 
substitute the word ' metre' for their respective 'yard,' 
and we would possibly have as many ' metres' as we 
have ' yards.' The confusion would be the same. 
The metric system was intended to be something new 
and capable of universal application ; it has nothing in 
common with the former system of any nation." 

"How, then, was the length of the metre deter- 
mined ?" asked the Junior. 

" The circumference of the earth, measured through 
the poles, was divided into forty million parts, and 
each such part was denominated a metre. This 
measure — ' metr 



166 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

tron/ meaning a measure, and has, therefore, no con- 
nection with any pre-existing system. 

a The metre is the unit of length/' the Proprietor 
continued. " It has been divided into ten parts, each 
of these again into ten, and so on, each subdivision 
receiving a separate name, obtained by putting the 
corresponding Latin prefix before the word metre. 
' Decimetre' means one-tenth of a metre ; ' centimetre/ 
one-hundredth of a metre; and ' millimetre/ one- 
thousandth of a metre. In figuring, these subdi- 
visions are written, like decimals, to the right of the 
period, while the number of whole metres is placed to 
the left. Thus, M. 4.127 means four metres, one deci- 
metre, two centimetres, and seven millimetres. Often 
the intermediate divisions are not named ; M. 4.127 
may also read four metres and one hundred and 
twenty-seven millimetres. In a similar way, higher 
denominations are formed from the metre by using 
prefixes derived from the Greek names of ten, hun- 
dred, and thousand, — deca, hecto, and kilo ; so that 
decametre means ten metres ; hectometre, one hundred 
metres ; and kilometre, one thousand metres. Thus, 
M. 3521.306 can be read three thousand five hundred 
and twenty-one metres and three hundred and six 
millimetres; or three kilometres, five hectometres, two 
decametres, one metre, three decimetres, no centimetres, 
and six millimetres. Suppose there were 3521.306 
inches ; could you with the same ease read off the num- 
bers of rods, yards, feet, and inches contained in them ?" 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 167 

" I guess not," said the Junior. " It is, as I under- 
stand it, not necessary to write the names of the dif- 
ferent sub-denominations; the position of the figure 
will tell what it is." 

" You are right," said the Proprietor, " and that is 
another advantage over the old system." 

"But how do we get at the weights?" asked the 
Junior. 

The Proprietor, holding in his hand a rod the 
length of one metre, continued : " This metre is used 
to measure distances, and all such articles as we gen- 
erally sell by linear measure, — cloth, thread, twine, 
etc. If we now lay out a square bounded by four 
metres, just as I draw it here on the floor, we obtain a 
square metre. This is used for measuring surfaces, 
such as lots for buildings, gardens, etc. If Ave go a 
step further we have a cube bounded by six square 
metres, forming a cubic metre, a measure of capacity. 
The last step in the series is to fill this cubic metre 
with water at its greatest density (4° C), and this 
amount of fluid gives us a measure of weight. In 
these successive steps the whole principle of the metric 
system is contained." 

After these words there was a lengthy pause. The 
Junior seemed to reflect and try to fully understand 
the meaning of what he had been told. He looked at 
the square metre on the floor, and held the stick, which 
the Proprietor had left there, in one corner of the 
square in a perpendicular position, in order to help his 



168 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

imagination in the formation of a cubic metre. Then 
he cast a glance at the small graduates on the table, 
and compared them with the immense measure of 
capacity depicted before him. The thoughts that 
went through his mind did not seem to satisfy him, 
for he shook his head doubtfully and said : 

" I can understand that this square metre is useful 
to measure surfaces ; but this cube, larger than the 
largest packing-box, would be a very awkward meas- 
ure for such small quantities as pints or ounces ; and, 
finally, if we come to weights, why, the weight of 
such a mass of water must be immense ! And how 
can we use it to weigh a grain, or even a drachm ?" 

" I am pleased to hear you make these objections," 
said the Proprietor, " for it shows that you understand 
what I tried to explain, and are ready for further in- 
formation. Such a cubic metre, for which the term 
' stere 7 is used in Europe, would indeed be an awk- 
ward measure, except for measuring very large spaces, 
such as excavations for buildings or streets. For or- 
dinary use it would need a great many subdivisions to 
reduce it to a convenient size, or, rather, smallness. 
Theoretically there can be no objection to such numer- 
ous subdivisions, but the figures and fractions with 
which we would have to operate would be very large 
and inconvenient. Besides, the human mind can, after 
some practice, comprehend the value and importance 
of the figures up to one thousand, but beyond that the 
conception becomes uncertain and confused to the 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 169 

majority of men. All these considerations naturally 
pointed to the necessity of a smaller unit of capacity 
than the stere, and the question arose how to get it 
without destroying the order and harmony of the 
system." 

The Junior, who had carefully followed the dis- 
course, happened to spy at this moment a quart grad- 
uate, and said, " If we could get a cube holding about 
as much as a quart, I should think it might go." 

" Let us then reflect as to what we can do. In the 
case of the cubic metre we started out by taking the 
metre ; could we not try to take a shorter measure for 
the formation of a smaller cube? And, if so, what 
kind ?" 

" We might take half a metre, or a third," sug- 
gested the Junior. 

"By doing so we would destroy the decimal arrange- 
ment of the system ; for the cube of one-half is one- 
eighth, and the cube of one third is one-twenty- 
seventh." 

" Oh, I see !" joyfully exclaimed the Junior ; " we 
must start with one-tenth of the metre, — the deci- 
metre." 

" That's it," replied the Proprietor, drawiug from 
his vest pocket a small folded rule of the size of a 
decimetre, and drawing a square with it on a piece of 
paper. " Let us proceed as before. W 7 e first draw a 
square decimetre, and then build a cube upon it. I 
have one here made of wood." He opened a drawer 



170 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

and took from it a cube-shaped cigar-box, such as is 
used for fifty cigars, and put it upon the square deci- 
metre, covering it exactly. 

" Aha !" cried the Junior ; " that's more like it. 
The contents of such a cube can be more easily 
grasped." 

The Proprietor said : " This cube represents what is 
called a l litre/ the metric unit of capacity." 

"So this is a litre/' said the Junior. "I always 
thought of a wine-bottle when the word litre was 
mentioned." 

The Proprietor replied : " In countries where the 
metric system is in vogue all measures of capacity — 
such as bottles, boxes, etc. — are made to conform with 
the unit, — the litre, — just as we have pint and quart 
bottles. The same Latin and Greek prefixes used in 
connection with the metre are joined to the word litre j 
' decilitre/ therefore, means what?" 

" One-tenth of a litre," quickly responded the 
Junior ; " ' centilitre/ one-hundredth, and ' millilitre/ 
one-thousandth of a litre. In the same way ' deca- 
litre' means ten litres ; hectolitre, a hundred litres ; and 
kilolitre, a thousand litres. But how about weights ?" 

" Let us go slowly, so as to be able to understand 
everything thoroughly," said the Proprietor. " I will 
ask you one or two questions more. You have learned 
that the stere is the cube of the metre and the litre the 
cube of the decimetre ; now tell me how many litres 
make a stere ?" 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 171 

" Well, ten," answered the Junior. But, looking at 
the small wooden box on the table and then at the 
large square on the floor, he at once discovered that his 
answer could not be right, and continued : " No, not 
ten, but one hundred Well, I don't know." 

" Let me help you," said the Proprietor, taking the 
small cube and putting it on the floor in one corner of 
the square. He then took the metre- rod and held it 
in a perpendicular position at one corner of the litre 
and looked inquiringly at the Junior. 

" Oh, I see !" exclaimed the latter ; " it takes a row 
of ten such cubes to be put along one side of the square, 
and ten such rows to cover the whole square; that 
makes ten times ten, or one hundred." 

" And how many such layers of one hundred litres 
do we need to reach to the top of this rod ?" asked the 
Proprietor. 

" W 7 hy, ten layers ; so there are ten times one hun- 
dred, or one thousand, litres in one stere." 

" Certainly. If the side of one cube is ten times as 
long as the side of another, the larger cube has ten 
times ten times ten, or one thousand, times the capacity 
of the smaller one. This is a simple example of arith- 
metic, and yet the cause of a great deal of the confu- 
sion that exists in respect to the metric system. Now, 
tell me by what term we would call the stere, or cubic 
metre, taking the litre as the unit?" 

" Kilolitre, of course, — one thousand litres," said 
the Junior. 



172 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

" Correct ; and if we wished to name the litre by a 
term derived from the stere ?" 

" Millistere, meaning one-thousandth of a stere." 

" Yes, sir/ 7 replied the Proprietor. " We will now 
proceed to the weights. As I said before, these are 
obtained by filling a cube with water at its greatest 
density, at about 39° F. or 4° C." 

" A stere full of water," said the Junior, " would 
be an enormous weight." 

"So it would," said the Proprietor, "fit only to 
weigh very heavy articles, like coal or iron. The 
name { metric ton' is sometimes applied to it. But for 
every-day use — to weigh the articles bought at the 
grocer's or butcher's — a great many subdivisions would 
be necessary, not to speak of the smaller weights used 
in pharmacy ; and we have here the same arguments 
in favor of a smaller unit that we considered when we 
constructed the litre." 

" Then we also take the decimetre as the starting- 
point?" questioned the Junior. 

" Still smaller," said the Proprietor. 

" Well, then, it must be the cube of the centimetre," 
suggested the young man. 

" That it is, indeed," replied the Proprietor. " A 
cube formed of the centimetre is filled with water, and 
the weight of this quantity of water, designated a 
' gramme/ is the unit of weight. Here I have a ' one- 
gramme weight.' " 

He showed the Junior a small cube, about the size 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 173 

of an ordinary die, each side of which measured one- 
hundredth of a metre in length. 

" Tell me, now, how many of these cubic centi- 
metres make a litre ?" 

The Junior was more careful this time in answering, 
and reflected quite a while before he spoke. 

" The side of this cubic centimetre," he said, " is 
one-tenth that of the litre, or cubic decimetre. Its 
capacity is, therefore, one-thousandth that of the litre ; 
or, in other words, one thousand cubic centimetres 
make one litre. Is that right ?" 

" It is," said the Proprietor. 

(i Then a cubic centimetre is the same as a millilitre ?" 

" Certainly ; and I often regret that the term ' milli- 
litre' is not used more frequently in measuring liquids. 
I think it would greatly help the student in compre- 
hending the relation of metre, litre, and gramme. 
But in reality the term ' millilitre' is hardly ever used, 
the cubic centimetre (written c.c ) having entirely 
superseded it." 

The Junior was still examining the small cube, and 
said, finally : " The weight of this quantity of water 
must be very small, I should think, for every-day 
weighing." 

" Do not forget," said the Proprietor, " that we can 
quickly make larger weights by multiplying with ten, 
with a hundred, and with a thousand." 

" Oh, I see !" said the Junior ; " we thereby get the 
decagramme, hectogramme, and kilogramme." 



174 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

" Quite right. The first two terms are seldom used, 
but the kilogramme — commonly called ' kilo' for short 
— is the standard of weight in common trade, just as 
the pound is now. Here is a gramme weight and here 
a kilogramme weight/' he continued, opening a small 
box that contained a full set of metric weights. 

The Junior examined the different weights, taking 
up one after the other, when the Proprietor re- 
marked : 

" In this little cavity, covered by a brass cover, you 
find the smaller weights, which are of special interest 
to us pharmacists, — the decigramme, centigramme, 
and milligramme. But, as in former cases, only the 
term milligramme is generally used, and you, there- 
fore, see on these small weights the marks 500, 200, 
100, 50, and so on, meaning so many milligrammes. 
You, no doubt, now see that this decimal system is 
quickly adapted to the greatest length and smallest 
distance, and to the largest area and space, as well as 
to the minutest measure of capacity; to the heaviest 
weight, like the ton, and to the tiniest, for chemical 
and scientific purposes." 

" It is, indeed, much simpler than I thought," said 
the Junior. 

" And yet you have only learned the smallest part 
of its simplicity. How much more will you admire it 
when you come to its practical application." 



CHAPTER XIII. 

SYMBOLS IN THE METRIC SYSTEM — METRIC PRE- 
SCRIPTION — MISTAKES IN WRITING PRESCRIPTIONS 
— CONVERSION OF WEIGHT INTO MEASURE. 

" What abbreviations are used/' asked the Junior, 
"in writing the different terms used in the metric 
system ?" 

The Proprietor replied : " M. stands for metre, L. for 
litre, and Gm. for gramme. The abbreviations of all 
the other denominations are formed by abbreviating 
the respective prefixes, using small letters for the lower 
and capital letters for the higher orders. For instance, 
Cm. means centimetre; Mm., millimetre; Hm., hecto- 
metre ; HI., hectolitre ; Mg., milligramme ; Kg., kilo- 
gramme ; and so on. For cubic centimetre the abbre- 
viation Cc, dropping the m, is generally adopted. In 
pharmacy only two signs are actually used, — Gm. and 
Cc. As I explained before, the position of the figure 
to the right or left of the decimal point will sufficiently 
indicate its meaning. Let us look at a few prescrip- 
tions to illustrate this still further." 

He looked through the prescription-file, and soon 
found what he was looking for. 

" Here is a very simple one," he said, pointing to 
the following : 

175 



176 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

Aristol . . . 1. 

Bismuth Subnitr 4. 

Amyli 15. 

M. et ft. pulvis. 

The Junior read : " Aristol, 1 gramme ; Bismuth 
Subnitrate, 4 grammes ; Starch, 15 grammes. I sup- 
pose the doctor means grammes, although he does not 
say so." 

" What could he possibly mean besides gramme ?" 
asked the Proprietor. 

" Well, that is so ; there can be no other meaning," 
said the Junior, " as long as the period is there." 

" Now, read this one," said the Proprietor, pointing 
to the following : 

Pepsin pur 4. 

Bismuth Subgall 8. 

Morph. Sulph 1 

M. et ft. pulveres No. xii. 

The Junior read : " 4 grammes of Pepsin, 8 grammes 
of Bismuth Suhgallate, and 1 decigramme of Morphine 
Sulphate." 

" Correct," said the Proprietor ; " and now find the 
decigramme among the weights." 

The Junior took the set of weights and looked 
through them carefully. After a while he put them 
down agaiu, rather discouraged, and said : " I thought 
I knew it all now, but I fail to find that weight." 

" I told you before," said the Proprietor, (l that the 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 177 

intermediate denominations between gramme and mil- 
ligramme are little used, and in preparing and stamp- 
ing the weights they are ignored entirely. These 
small weights, therefore, in the shape of flat pieces of 
metal are milligrammes, and in looking for a deci- 
gramme you have to convert it into milligrammes." 

" That would be one hundred," said the Junior ; 
"then the weight marked oue hundred is the one to 
take. But," he added, "does not this give rise to 
confusion ?" 

" To avoid confusion and mistakes you should only 
use the term milligramme ; and in reading the pre- 
scription always add to the figures so many zeros as 
to convert decigrammes and centigrammes to milli- 
grammes. In our case add two zeros, and read one 
hundred milligrammes, instead of one decigramme, 
and no confusion can arise." 

He then asked the Junior to read this prescription : 

Strych. Sulph 03 

Ac. Arsenosi 05 

Quin. Sulph 4. 

Podophyllini 2 

Pulv. Capsici 1. 

M. et ft. pil. No. xxx. 

" That is a puzzler," said the Junior. 

The Proprietor replied: "Do as I told you, and 
supply the wanting zeros ; and, if necessary for your 
better understanding, copy it with them." 

12 



178 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

The Junior followed his advice, and wrote 



Strych. Sulph 030 

Ac. Arsenosi 050 

Quin. Sulph 4.000 

Podophyllini 200 

Pulv. Capsici 1.000 

Then he read : " Strychnine Sulphate, 30 milli- 
grammes ; Arsenous Acid, 50 milligrammes ; Quinine 
Sulphate, 4 grammes; Powdered Podophyllin, 200 
milligrammes; Capsicum, 1 gramme." 

" You see now," said the Proprietor, " that you can 
make no mistake if you will only remember that there 
must always be three decimals to the right of the 
period, and if there are less, a number of zeros must 
be added. It is the neglect of this rule that gives rise 
to mistakes by using a wrong denomination." 

After some meditation the Junior said : " The only 
thing to look out for, then, is the period ; if that is 
there, no further signs or letters are needed. But how 
easily might a doctor omit it !" 

The Proprietor replied : " There is no safeguard 
against carelessness. He might just as well make an 
ounce sign for a drachm sign, or vice versa. Such mis- 
takes, whether they are only slips of the pen or the re- 
sult of negligence or over-confidence, should be detected 
by the pharmacist, whose duty it is to correct them ; 
or whenever there is any doubt as to the intention of 
the prescriber, consult him before compounding the 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 179 

prescription. A physician once accustomed to the 
metric system will no more forget the period than 
another will omit the drachm or ounce sign. 

" Some prescribers," he continued, " in order to 
avoid all possibility of mistakes, have a perpendicular 
line printed on their prescription blanks, which divides 
the grammes, or cubic centimetres, from the milli- 
grammes, and takes the place of the period, as in this 
prescription : 

Gm. Mg. 

Quin. Sulph 2 

Ferri Sulph. Exsic 1 

Aloini 250 

Leptandrini 500 

M. et ft. Caps. No. xx. 

But the careless prescriber might just as well put a 
figure at the wrong side of the line." 

" I suppose that the so-called ' quacks' are the ones 
who are apt to make mistakes ?" remarked the Junior. 

" Not at all," said the Proprietor ; " the physicians 
of limited learning and the l quacks' are, as a rule, ex- 
ceedingly careful. Conscious of their ignorance, and 
always afraid of being exposed, they seldom order 
potent drugs ; and when they do, in very small doses, 
so that the error is generally on the side of safety. 
The men who make mistakes in prescribing are of 
two classes. The first class is composed of extremely 
conscientious doctors, who worry continuously over 
their patients, and, being busy from morning till night, 



180 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

and worn out by overwork, are apt to make slips. 
When their attention is called to the mistake, they 
are sincerely thankful, and return, whenever occasion 
offers itself, the service that the pharmacist rendered 
them. The other class consists of men who, having 
become prominent in their profession for some reason 
or other (often through some marked trait of char- 
acter rather than great learning or skill), believe that 
they are stripped of all human frailty, and, far from 
admitting a mistake, treat the pharmacist who dares 
call their attention to it with contempt and scorn. 
I have in my possession a prescription written by one 
of the most renowned physicians of New York, in 
which is ordered one grain of strychnine at one dose, 
to be repeated every three hours. His intention prob- 
ably was to order one grain for the thirty-two doses 
of the prescription, and I corrected the latter ac- 
cord ingly." 

" Did you not tell the physician of it ?" 
"No, I did not. I remembered what a friend of 
mine told me about his experience with this same 
physician. He had a similar case, and went straight- 
way to the prescriber, asking him, in a friendly way, 
to write another prescription. Instead of doing so, the 
doctor tore the faulty prescription into small pieces, 
and dismissed the pharmacist with the remark that he 
would see about it. A few days later the pharmacist 
met the patient, and, remembering that he had received 
no further prescription from him, asked him about it. 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 181 

Reluctantly his customer told him that the doctor had 
advised him to go to another druggist, who understood 
his prescriptions better. So you see " 

Here the Proprietor was interrupted by the Senior, 
who came with an empty quart bottle, and asked if 
there was any more diluted acetic acid in stock. 

"There is not/' replied the Proprietor; "we only 
prepare this quantity at a time." And, turning to the 
Junior, he continued : " Here we have a good occasion 
to compare the working formula of the old system 
with that of the new. In most stores the acetic acid, 
containing thirty-six per cent, by weight of the glacial 
acid, is kept in stock, and the diluted acid, containing 
only six per cent., is made therefrom whenever wanted. 
Now, how shall we proceed to make it ?" 

The Junior said, after reflecting a short while : " If 
the one contains six per cent, of the glacial acid and 
the other thirty-six, all we have to do is to take one- 
sixth of the acid and five-sixths of water." 

"But what do you mean by one- and five-sixths?" 

" One-sixth by weight, of course." 

" That is right. But suppose that we do not wish 
to make a certain quantity by weight, but by measure, 
as in our case, — one quart ?" 

The Junior did not seem at once to understand that 
this should make any difference, and looked inquiringly 
at his preceptor. 

"How much will a quart of diluted acetic acid 
weigh ?" asked the Proprietor. 



182 THE PHARMACIST AT "WORK 

" Oh, that is where the difference comes in ?' ex- 
claimed the Junior. " I don't know."' 

" How much will a quart of distilled water weigh ¥* 
then asked the Proprietor. 

" Two pounds, of course/' was the quick reply. 

" So, it will not. Here is a difficulty which so 
many beginners in pharmacy and chemistry encounter. 
One minim of distilled water does not weigh one grain 
at ordinary temperature, but only 0.9508 grain. If 
you should ever forget this figure, you will find it at 
the end of the ' United States Pharmacopoeia/ where a 
number of comparative tables are printed. Xow, how 
many minims are there in one quart?" 

The Junior took paper and pencil, and the Proprie- 
tor also figured the same examples, to control the 
correctness. 

" Thirty-two times 480, or 15,360 minims," said 
the Junior. 

" Xow multiply this by 0.9508, the weight of one 
minim." 

The Junior soon found the answer : " 14,604.288 
grains are the weight of one quart of water." 

The Proprietor continued : " Diluted acetic acid is 
heavier than water, its specific gravity being 1.008. 
How much, therefore, will a quart of it weigh?" 

The Junior replied : " The weight of water multiplied 
by 1.008,— that is, 14,604.288 times 1.008 grains." 
And, after figuring a while, he continued : " 14,721.122 
grains.*' 



^THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 183 

"And how much of this must be the stronger 
acid?" 

" One-sixth, or 2453.520 grains j while the required 
quantity of water will be five-sixths, or 12,267.602 
grains." 

"These are the quantities of acid and water by 
weight necessary to make one quart of diluted acetic 
acid. But suppose" that we should prefer to measure 
the ingredients, as, indeed, most pharmacists do in 
making their preparations, or that we had no accom- 
modations for weighing, how would you proceed ?" 

The Junior meditated a few minutes, and then said : 
" One minim of water weighs 0.951 grain. We, there- 
fore, have as many minims as 0.951 is contained in 
12,267.602, which is 12,900, or, reduced to ounces by 
dividing by 480, twenty-six fluidounces and four hun- 
dred and twenty minims." 

"That's right," said the Proprietor. "And how 
about the acetic acid, its specific gravity being 1.048 ?" 

" We must, for the same reason, divide the number 
of grains — namely, 2453.520 — by 1.048, its specific 
gravity. Thus we get as an answer 2341.145." 

" Are these minims or grains ?" 

" Minims, of course." 

" Think again," replied the Proprietor. " We had 
a given weighed quantity of acid, and divided it by 
1.048, the specific gravity of the acid, which means a 
quantity of acid equal to such a quantity of water as 
would weigh one." 



184 THE PHAKMACIST AT WOKK 

" Oh, I understand," said the Junior • " the answer 
is the number of grains that a corresponding quantity 
of water would weigh." 

" That is so ; and to change this weight of water to 
a measure, we must do what ?" 

" Divide by 0.951, just as we did before. 2341.145 
divided by 0.951 gives two thousand four hundred and 
sixty-one minims of acetic acid, or, converting the 
minims to fluidounces, we have five fluidounces and 
sixty-one minims." 

" The complete answer, therefore, is : To make one 
quart of diluted acetic acid, take five fluidounces and 
sixty-one minims of acetic acid (thirty-six per cent.) 
and twenty-six ounces and four hundred and twenty 
minims of water ; by adding the two quantities you 
will notice an incorrectness of one minim." 

" Well," said the Junior, " that is owing to the 
dropping of the lower decimals." 

" Yes, sir ; and also to the fact that the weight of 
water in our calculations relates to water of 4° C, 
while the specific gravity of the acids was based on a 
temperature of 15° C. But for all practical purposes 
our answer is near enough." 

" What an amount of figuring we had to do !" said 
the Junior, looking over the two large pages of figures 
before him. 

"Now let us do the same work, employing the 
metric system," said the Proprietor. " We will make 
one litre, or one thousand cubic centimetres, and go 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 185 

through the same process of reasoning. How much 
will such a quantity of diluted acetic acid weigh, its 
specific gravity being 1.008?" 

" Why, one thousand times 1 .008, or one thousand 
and eight grammes." 

" And how much of this must be acetic acid ?" 

" One-sixth, or one hundred and sixty-eight grammes, 
and the balancej or eight hundred and forty grammes, 
is the weight of water." 

" Suppose, again, we wished to measure instead of 
weighing, how much would the eight hundred and 
forty grammes of water measure ?" 

The Junior hesitated a minute, and then, struck 
with the simplicity of the system, exclaimed, radiantly : 
" They will, of course, measure eight hundred and 
forty cubic centimetres ; for the weight of one cubic 
centimetre of water is what we call a gramme." 

"Certainly ; and. how much is left for the acid?" 

"One thousand, less eight hundred and forty, or 
one hundred and sixty cubic centimetres." 

" We must, therefore, take one hundred and sixty 
cubic centimetres of acetic acid and eight hundred and 
forty cubic centimetres of water to make one litre of 
diluted acetic acid. 

" If we wish to prove the correctness of our figures, 
we divide 168 — that is, the weight of the acid — by its 
specific gravity, 1.048, and the answer must be 160, 
as, indeed, it is, barring a small fraction, for reasons 
explained before. Here we arrived at the same result 
in two minutes without even using pencil or paper !" 



CHAPTEE XIY. 

SICK-ROOM APPLIANCES — UNPAID BILLS — QUEER 
CUSTOMERS — MEDICATED SPIRITS — TEST-ODORS — 
AROMATIC SPIRITS OF AMMONIA — OFFICIAL WINES. 

While the Proprietor was explaining to the Junior 
the metric system and its advantages, the other two 
clerks had an interesting experience in the store. A 
lady in mourning had entered, accompanied by a child, 
carrying a large bundle that she unpacked on the 
counter. It contained numerous articles, betraying a 
long sickness, all more or less soiled and damaged by 
handling. There were many empty bottles, sick- 
feeders, and tubes and rubber goods, such as air- 
cushions, ice-bags, and atomizers. The Manager, 
knowing by long experience what was to come, 
patiently awaited developments. At last the sad 
relics of a fatal and expensive disease were all ex- 
hibited, and the mourning widow asked at what price 
they could be sold. 

" I am sorry to say, madam," said the Manager, 
gently, "that we can pay nothing for these goods. 
They are of no use to anybody." 

" But can you not sell them again ?" asked the cus- 
tomer, in astonishment. 

" We sell only new goods/' was the firm reply. 
186 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 187 

" But who will know whether these goods are new 
or old, if they are cleaned well and put into new 
boxes ? In fact, some of them have hardly been used 
at all. By the death of my husband I have been left 
almost without means, and I think it is rather hard 
that you should refuse to buy all these appliances, 
after we have spent so much money here." 

"We fully appreciate the value of your custom, 
madam, and deeply sympathize with you, but that can 
be no reason to sacrifice the reputation of our busi- 
ness." 

"What do you mean by that?" asked the lady, 
somewhat indignantly. 

"You certainly have considered this matter only 
from your stand-point. But now tell me, would you 
deal with a druggist who you knew bought old articles 
and tried to sell them to you as new ones, thereby 
telling or acting a lie ?" 

The lady made no reply, but a faint blush on her 
white, care-worn face indicated that she recognized the 
correctness of the argument. 

"Nor is this all," continued the Manager; "such 
action on our part would not only be a financial mis- 
take, but also a moral wrong, equal almost to crime. 
There is a possibility that obnoxious bacteria or dis- 
ease-germs adhere to all the implements that have 
been used in a sick-room, and may thus be transported 
to other patients who may use them again. Now, put 
yourself in the position of a customer who, confiding 



188 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

in the integrity of his pharmacist, would be furnished 
with an article bearing a concealed but fatal poison ! 
I do not wish to imply that there is any danger in 
using the goods that you brought in here; but you 
will see that in such matters we must strictly follow a 
principle, and no consideration can be strong enough 
to make an exception." 

The sad expression of the mourning customer be- 
trayed her disappointment, and, hardly able to keep 
back her tears, she packed the articles back in the 
paper again, saying : " I thought this would help to 
pay the bill which I owe here for medicine. During 
the last days of my husband's sickness I was unable 
to pay for everything. Will you please ask the Pro- 
prietor to send me the bill as soon as possible?" 

" I believe it is here," answered the Manager, look- 
ing through some sealed envelopes that lay on the 
shelf behind the counter. " It was made out on the 
first of the month, as is our custom. But, owing to 
your sad bereavement, it was kept back until now." 

" I thank you," said the widow, leaving the store 
with her child. 

The Senior had silently watched the two and listened 
to their conversation. After the door had closed he 
burst forth with boisterous voice, in which emotion 
and indignation were curiously blended. 

" I think it is a shame," he said, " to treat the poor 
widow like that ! Why, she spent more than a hun- 
dred dollars here during the last two months, and 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 189 

mostly for prescriptions, too ! Suppose we cannot use 
the trash that she brought in here, why did you not 
make her believe that we could, and give her a few 
dollars for it? I just felt like giving her a i fiver' 
myself, ouly I did not have any." 

" Hush, hush !" said the Manager ; " emotion and 
soft sympathy are bad factors in business. By 
' making believe/ as you suggest, we would have done 
just what I told her we dare not do. She might have 
told twenty friends about the ' kind druggist' who 
bought the old articles of her ; and the twenty friends 
would afterwards be suspicious of every sick-room 
appliance that came from this house. No, sir ; do not 
lie, even for sympathy's sake." 

" But think of that poor woman ! Here she comes, 
hoping to save a few pennies, and in place of that she 
takes away an unpaid bill." 

" But it was not an unpaid bill," said the Manager, 
slyly smiling ; " it was a receipt in full." 

"How is that?" asked the Senior, in astonish- 
ment. 

" I will let you into the secret," said the Manager ; 
" but do not tell the ' Old Man,' for he does not like 
to have such things known. When the bills were 
made out, we looked over this customer's account, and 
found that she owed less than ten per cent, of what 
she had paid duriug the last four weeks. Knowing 
her circumstances, a receipt in full was made out, and 
I was instructed to hand it to her or her child at the 



190 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

first occasion. Now, compare this action with your 
' make-believe' theory, and see which is the better.'' 

" Well, that puts another face to it," said the 
Senior, " and I am really glad of it. But there is my 
' ammonia man.' " 

The customer to whom this epithet was applied 
was one of those monomaniacs known in every phar- 
macy, who will regularly come for a certain article 
that they imagine to be indispensable for the mainte- 
nance of their health or mental equilibrium. They 
call, according to their particular disposition, every 
day or once a week, and insist on being waited on by 
the same person. There is the man who wants two 
drops of tincture of nux vomica in a little Vichy for 
his digestion. " I could not live without it ; but I 
prefer to take it here, because I know it is a deadly 
poison, and I might get used to it if I kept a large 
quantity at the house. Two drops ! never give me any 
more." Another needs some sodium bicarbonate, twice 
a day ; a third, like the one just entered, wants a dose 
of aromatic spirits of ammonia ; and then there is the 
man who calls regularly for " some of your best anti- 
bilious vegetable liver-pills ; they are the only ones 
that help me ; it seems nobody else can make them." 
Then comes the old lady every morning for a glass of 
sarsaparilla : " You see, my blood is out of order, and 
instead of taking any of those patent articles, I would 
rather take yours in soda-water, it is so refreshing and 
invigorating." 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 191 

As long as the whims of such people are humored, 
and even encouraged, they are not only good .and 
regular customers, but also act as voluntary adver- 
tising agents, praising their particular pharmacist and 
his goods as superior to those of anybody else. But 
as soon as an effort is made to enlighten them, or, what 
is worse, to ridicule their monomania, they at once be- 
come bitter enemies, and abuse and malign the self- 
appointed apostle of enlightenment wherever they can. 
It is, therefore, best to quietly give them what they 
call for, without any comment. 

After the " ammonia man," as he was called, had 
left, the Senior looked for the stock-bottle of Aromatic 
Spirit of Ammonia to fill up the small dispensing- 
flask at the fountain ; and after he had done so, he 
found that the stock-bottle was almost empty, and 
reported the fact to the Proprietor in the laboratory. 

" We will make it at once," was the reply. " But 
before doing so, let us see if we know anything about 
spirits in general." And turning to the Junior, he 
continued : " What do you understand by i spirits' in 
pharmacy ?" 

The Junior could give no answer. There was a 
confused mixture of various spirits in his mind, like 
spiritus frumenti, spirit of nitre, cologne spirit, pep- 
permint spirit, etc., but he was unable to arrange and 
classify them. 

" What does the word spirit mean, when used in the 
arts ?" asked the Proprietor. 



192 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

"Alcohol, I believe/' was the answer. 

" Correct ; and by what are the medicated spirits, 
that you handle daily in the shop, distinguished from 
each other?" 

After a while the Junior answered, with some hesi- 
tation : " It cannot be the color, for a good many have 
no color at all ; but they all smell differently." 

" And what causes these different odors ?" 

" Well, I should say different oils that are dissolved 
in the alcohol." 

" Now you have nearly arrived at the general phar- 
maceutical definition of a spirit, — namely, an alcoholic 
solution of some volatile substance, — which need not 
necessarily be an oil, although the majority of spirits 
are solutions of ethereal oils. We have altogether 
twenty-five official spirits." 

" What percentage of oil is in spirits?" asked the 
Junior. And the Senior replied : 

" The largest amount is ten per cent., contained in 
Spiritis Mentha Piperitis and Viridis, Cinnamomi, 
Anisi, Ammonia?, and Camphorse. Then comes Spiritus 
Chloroformi, with six per cent., and the five per cent, 
class, represented by Spiritus Aurantii, Gaultherise, 
Juniperi, Lavandulae, Limonis, and Myristiese, while 
Spiritus Amygdala? Amarse contains only one per cent, 
of the oil." 

"There is another one-per-cent. spirit," said the 
Proprietor. 

" Yes, sir," answered the Senior. " The Spirits of 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 193 

Glonoin or Nitroglycerin, which, however, is never 
prepared in the pharmaceutical laboratory, owing to 
the dangerous character of the active ingredient. The 
one per cent, of this new official preparation is deter- 
mined by weight, while all the oils are measured by 
volume. Further, we have three compound spirits, 
composed of a number of oils, — namely, Spiritus 
Aurantii Compositus, Spiritus Juniperi Compositus, 
and Spiritus Myrciae (or Bay Rum) ; and one com- 
pound spirit, made of oils and ammonia, — namely, 
Spiritus Arnmonise Aromaticus." 

"How about the spirits that contain ether ?" 

"There are three, — namely, Spiritus iEtheris, an 
alcoholic solution of 32.5 per cent, of ether ; and Spir- 
itus JEtheris Compositus, which contains 2.5 per cent, 
of ethereal oil, besides the ether. The third ethereal 
spirit — namely, Spiritus iEtheris Nitrosi — is made by 
distillation, whereby a chemical reaction takes place at 
the same time." 

" Are any other spirits made by distillation ?" asked 
the Junior. 

"Spiritus Frumenti and Spiritus Vini Gallici are 
made by distillation," replied the Proprietor; "the 
first of fermented grain, the second of fermented grape- 
juice. They both contain about fifty per cent, of 
alcohol." 

" We should not forget," added the Senior, " that 
some of the spirits contain a coloring ingredient besides 
the oil, — namely, the two spirits of mint, to which 

13 



194 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

peppermint and spearmint herbs, in the quantity of one 
per cent, by weight, impart a green color ; and spirits 
of lemon, the yellow color of which is produced by 
five per cent, of lemon-peel." 

The Junior, who had taken notes while the Proprie- 
tor and Senior had enumerated the spirits, counted 
them over, and said : 

"This makes twenty-four. You said before that 
there were twenty-five; one must have been for- 
gotten " 

" This is the Spirits of Phosphorus, being a solution 
of 0.12 per cent, by weight of phosphorus in alcohol. 
If this solution of a non-metallic element is justly 
called a spirit, we should a]so call the tincture of 
iodine a spirit, for it fits the same general definition 
and has nothing in common with the tinctures. But 
the dread of changing an old-established name seems 
to have led the revisers of the ' Pharmacopoeia' into 
this inconsistency." 

" There is really little art required in making the 
spirits," said the Junior. 

" With most of them the only requisite is to buy the 
best of oils and be sure to get no adulteration. The 
' Pharmacopoeia' gives tests for the detection of spuri- 
ous additions to most of the oils ; but only few phar- 
macists apply them, depending entirely upon the 
integrity of the wholesale dealers." 

"Cannot most adulterations be detected by the 
odor ?" asked the Junior. 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 195 

" The average druggist's olfactory organ is but little 
trained in this direction, and therefore entirely unreli- 
able, and while some people are very sensitive to the 
slighest pronounced odor, and can remember and detect 
it, others are totally indifferent in this respect. There 
is no doubt in my mind that this sense is susceptible 
of further cultivation; and the time may come that 
we will have ' test-odors/ as we now have test-solu- 
tions, by which the purity or adulteration of chemicals 
and drugs can be detected." 

" That hardly seems possible/' said the Junior, with 
an incredulous smile. 

" There is no telling what may happen in science," 
said the Proprietor. "Who would have thought a 
hundred years ago that the eye could be trained by the 
help of the microscope as it is to-day ? The classifica- 
tion of plants rests, to a great degree, on this micro- 
scopical training ; and forms and shapes of the anthers, 
the pollen of the minute embryo of the seed, that it 
would have been impossible to have noticed in former 
years, are now made the leading characteristics of sub- 
orders and tribes. And take the organ of hearing. 
To what perfection in music and harmony has the ear 
been educated, compared with two or three hundred 
years ago ! Would not our ancestors have ridiculed 
the idea that a man might converse with a friend a 
hundred or a thousand miles away? That there is 
nothing impossible in the attainments of science is 
taught at each advancing step. 



196 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

" But now let us return, after this little deviation, 
to our work, and prepare, secundum arte, some aro- 
matic spirit of ammonia." 

The Junior opened the " Pharmacopoeia" and read 
the formula, while the Senior brought the necessary 
ingredients. After mixing ninety cubic centimetres of 
ammonia water with one hundred and forty cubic centi- 
metres of distilled water, the Proprietor asked the 
Junior to weigh, thirty-four grammes of ammonium 
carbonate. 

"Is this the article required by the ' Pharmaco- 
poeia' ?" he asked, as the Junior put the weighed 
quantity before him. 

" Yes, sir," answered the Junior, quickly ; " I made 
no mistake in weighing." 

" Read what the ' Pharmacopoeia' says about it," 
retorted the Proprietor. 

The Junior read : " Ammonium Carbonate, in 
translucent pieces." 

" Stop here," said the Proprietor ; " are these trans- 
lucent pieces ?" 

" No, not exactly ; but I took the powder on pur- 
pose to save the trouble of powdering the hard pieces." 

" That is the common experience," said the Proprie- 
tor ; " saving a little labor and spoiling a day's work. 
You must learn that in our ' Pharmacopoeia, 7 as well 
as in scientific directions in general, each word has a 
meauing. Had the powder been wanted, translucent 
pieces would not have been ordered in the formula. 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 197 

The fact is, that the official carbonate of ammonium is 
a mixture of the acid carbonate and the carbonate of 
ammonium, which, by contact with the air, is partly 
changed to this white powder, — the insoluble bicar- 
bonate. It is true the ammonia water will again con- 
vert the bicarbonate to the carbonate ; but to produce 
this change fully w T e would need a great deal more of 
it than the officially prescribed quantity. In future, 
therefore, consider each word necessary and useful, and 
make no changes for the sake of a little saving in 
labor." 

The Junior weighed out the carbonate again, this 
time breaking a large lump and selecting small trans- 
lucent pieces from the interior. After powdering the 
necessary quantity in a porcelain mortar, he put the 
powder into the flask that contained the distilled and 
ammonia waters, and, closing it, agitated the contents 
to dissolve the carbonate. Meanwhile, the Senior took 
a graduate of one thousand cubic centimetres capacity, 
and put into it ten cubic centimetres of oil of lemon 
and one cubic centimetre each of oil of lavender and 
oil of nutmeg. He then rinsed the small graduate in 
which he had measured the oils with some of the seven 
hundred cubic centimetres of alcohol that he had meas- 
ured in another graduate, and finally poured the whole 
into the litre graduate. To this solution of the oils 
the solution of ammonium carbonate was gradually 
added and the mixture agitated. After all this had 
been done, the Proprietor said : 



198 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

%( According to the ' Pharmacopoeia/ this mixture 
must be set aside for twenty-four hours, with occa- 
sional agitation, before filtering. I believe the object 
of doing this is to convert any undissolved bicarbonate 
to the carbonate for better solution ; but with perfectly 
good material, such as we have used, this delay seems 
to be un necessary." 

"Why is this preparation so light, — almost color- 
less, — while the last portion of it in the stock-bottle 
was yellow ?" asked the Senior. 

The Proprietor replied : " Aromatic spirit of am- 
monia, when exposed to the light, gradually acquires a 
darker color. The reason for this is not known. It 
was at first supposed to be caused by oil of pimento, 
which formerly entered into it, and oil of nutmeg was 
therefore substituted. But I have not been able to 
observe any difference. An improvement which ap- 
pears to me to be more desirable is the replacement of 
the somewhat unreliable ammonium carbonate by a 
corresponding quantity of stronger water of ammonia, 
thereby avoiding the possibility of a precipitate. As 
only the stimulating effect of the ammonia is aimed at, 
there seems to be no objection to this change from a 
therapeutical stand-point, while pharmaceutical^ it 
would be a decided improvement." 

" Do not the official wines form a subdivision of 
spirits?" asked the Junior. 

" We can hardly say so," replied the Proprietor. 
" The fact that the wines of commerce are classified as 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 199 

spirituous liquids probably gave rise to this association 
of ideas in your mind. The official wines are prep- 
arations intermediate between infusions and tinctures, 
— or weak tinctures, if you choose to call them so, 
meaning weak in alcohol." Turning to the Senior, he 
continued : " What is the base of our vinous prepara- 
tions?" 

"Vinum Album, white wine," was the answer, 
" containing not less than ten and not more than four- 
teen per cent, of alcohol." 

" You will therefore see," said the Proprietor, "that 
the medicated wines of our ( Pharmacopoeia' are prepa- 
rations of varying strength, at least as far as the 
alcohol in them is concerned ; and as different men- 
strua will dissolve different quantities of extractive 
matter, the latter will vary also. Which of our wines 
are solutions of chemicals?" 

" Three of them," replied the Senior, — " Wine of 
Antimony, containing 0.4 per cent, of Antimony and 
Potassium Tartrate, and fifteen per cent, of alcohol in 
addition to the white wine ; then Wine of Iron, being 
a solution of four per cent, of Citrate of Iron and 
Ammonia ; and Bitter Wine of Iron, a solution of 
five per cent, of Citrate of Iron and Quinine. To 
both the iron wines fifteen per cent, of tincture of 
sweet orange-peel is added, being equal to nine per 
cent, of alcohol, and some simple syrup." 

" This syrup," added the Preceptor, " is as much as 
thirty per cent, in the case of the Bitter Wine of Iron, 



200 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

and looks like a mockery of the title of the prepara- 
tion, failing not only to overcome the bitterness of the 
quinine, but rendering the wine nauseating to many 
patients. Which of the medicated wines," he con- 
tinued, " is simply a mixture of a fluid extract and 
a menstruum ?" 

"The Wine of Ipecac/' answered the Senior, " con- 
taining ten per cent, each of fluid extract and alcohol." 

" And how are the remaining four wines made ?" 

"Two are made by maceration, — namely, Vinum 
Colchici Seminis and Vinum Opii, the latter contain- 
ing small quantities of Cinnamon and Cloves as aro- 
matics ; and two are prepared by percolation, like 
tinctures, — namely, the Wine of Colchicum Root and 
that of Ergot. The menstrua of all four are strength- 
ened by the addition of fifteen per cent, of alcohol." 

"This ends our list of official wines," said the 
Proprietor, "that might just as well be dropped and 
replaced by tinctures with a fixed percentage of alco- 
hol, flavored, if desired, with aromatics, or, in the case 
of the two saccharine wines of iron, by elixirs." 



CHAPTEK XV. 

a 
PEOMINENT MEN ADULTERATIONS. 

"What does the word elixir mean?" asked the 
inquisitive young man. 

" It is derived from the Arabic l eliksir/ the ' phi- 
losopher's stone/ by which name for hundreds of 
years a mysterious object was called which was sup- 
posed to possess the power of turning everything into 
gold. Applied to a liquid, in the Middle Ages, it was 
what we might call a concentration of all modern 
quack medicines, a cure-all ; and the ' elixir vitse' — 
the elixir of life — could not only cure every human 
ailment, but restore beauty and youth." 

" It was used, then, only in works of fiction ?" in- 
terrupted the Junior. 

"By no means," replied the Proprietor ; " the most 
learned men of their times, honest in their researches 
and utterances, believed in the existence of such a 
wonderful liquid, and spent years of study, or, rather, 
experiment, to discover it. The historical fact that 
Ponce de Leon, the Spanish discoverer, set out pur- 
posely to discover a c fountain of youth' only confirms 
this statement. Thus the word elixir gradually came to 

201 



202 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

imply something supernatural or wonderful, something 
that had great undefinable powers, revealed only to the 
few select, but concealed from the general vulgar under- 
standing. ~No wonder that in modern times this word 
was seized upon with delight by the compounders of 
nostrums ; for with many common people it helped to 
create the idea that the concoctions to which the term 
was applied were better than official preparations. 
The object of ancient pharmacists or chemists — of 
presenting something really remedial or invigorating 
— was by degrees abandoned, and the modern nostrum 
manufacturer endeavors to give pleasant taste and 
elegant appearance to his panacea, often entirely sacri- 
ficing therapeutical activity." 

" How, then, could such a word get into our ' Phar- 
macopoeia' ?" asked the Junior. 

"That is easily explained/' replied the Preceptor. 
" The manufacturers of the legion of modern elixirs 
persuaded the medical fraternity to order their won- 
derful elixirs, and the pharmacists, of course, were 
compelled to buy them. This ' working of the doctors' 
has, during the last twenty-five years, been done so 
thoroughly that many physicians have entirely for- 
gotten the original meaning of the word elixir, — if 
they ever knew it, — and believe that it denotes some 
elegant, palatable vehicle by which the bitter or nau- 
seous taste of certain drugs can be disguised. So they 
commenced to order elixirs, as vehicles for everything 
that was unpleasant, leaving it to the judgment of the 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 203 

compounder to make the vehicle as pleasant as he 
could. This state of affairs naturally brought about a 
great confusion : the same prescription — calling, for 
instance, for four fluidounces of elixir of potassium 
bromide — would be colorless when prepared in one 
pharmacy, yellow in the next, red in the third ; here it 
would be excessively sweet, and there strongly aro- 
matic, and so on. To correct this uncertainty as to 
what an elixir is, the revisers of the ( Pharmacopoeia' 
introduced a formula for this preparation, retaining 
the old name, and stripping it of all claims of being a 
medicament or healing agent, but using it now for a 
pleasant aromatic, saccharine, slightly alcoholic vehicle, 
from which any particular elixir can be made by dis- 
solving in it the active substance. The National For- 
mulary is a very good help in this respect, and gives 
instructions in all cases where a more complicated 
manipulation is required/' 

" Then there is no other elixir official besides the 
aromatic?" asked the Junior. 

" Yes, sir : the Elixir of Phosphorus, a mixture of 
spirit of phosphorus, oil of anise, glycerin, and aro- 
matic elixir, the glycerin representing more than one- 
half of the whole preparation. This formula was 
probably added on account of the dangerous nature of 
phosphorus, so as to guard it against the possible 
dangers of empiricism." 

" You often speak of the revisers of the ' Pharma- 
copoeia,' said the Junior, changing the subject; "and 



204 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

I have often thought who these men might be, and 
why the ( Pharmacopoeia' should need a revision." 

The Proprietor replied : " Pharmacy and medicine 
are continually progressing; new plants or elements, 
or new properties of old ones, are discovered ; former 
processes of preparing compounds are supplanted by 
better, or less expensive ones; mistakes in applying 
certain remedies and over- or under-valuation of the 
power of some drugs are detected ; new preparations 
must be added from time to time, and old ones 
dropped. These are some of the reasons why a re- 
vision of our pharmaceutical law-book becomes a 
necessity, and ten years has been agreed upon as the 
time between the revisions. In monarchical countries 
the ever-provident government appoints the revisers ; 
but in our republic the two professions interested in 
this cause must do the work. The medical and phar- 
maceutical societies and colleges select their delegates, 
who meet, deliberate, propose, and amend, appoint 
committees to make investigations or to examine into 
the virtues of newly proposed drugs, and thus, as the 
result of many years' labor, a new revision of our 
' Pharmacopoeia' appears." 

" How much a man must learn and know^ to be fit 
for such a position," said the Junior, " and how few in 
our profession will reach such prominence ! I am sure 
I will never be able to ' get there.' " 

The Proprietor smilingly replied : " Your admiration 
of learning is as pleasiug as your modesty is commend- 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 205 

able. But you need not despair. There is no reason 
why you should not some day be called upon to help 
in the revision of our book or in other equally impor- 
tant work. Many men whose minds and learning re- 
flect from the pages of the last excellent edition of 
the ' Pharmacopoeia' commenced their pharmaceutical 
careers under more difficult and unfavorable surround- 
ings than you." 

"Did they?" exclaimed the Junior. "I thought 
only men of long college experience — men who had 
done nothing but read and study all their lives — 
would be selected." 

"If practical men had not helped to make the 
' Pharmacopoeia/ it would not be what it is," replied 
the Proprietor. " But to enlighten you on the early 
careers of some of the prominent men in our profes- 
sion, I will narrate to you what one of them told me 
some time ago about his early life as a pharmacist. I 
will use his own words as far as I can recall them. 
He said : ' When I entered the drug-store as apprentice, 
not much was known of what we call "elegant phar- 
macy" to-day. My preceptor was a rather plain man, 
without much education or refinement. His business 
included everything that could be found in an old- 
fashioned country store, — from shoestrings to anvils, 
from pins to crow-bars ; and the drug department was 
kept in the background. There were five rows of 
shelves about ten feet long, and, underneath, a number 
of drawers; near by was a plain table, with a few 



206 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

graduates, a mortar, a crude balance and wc-rn-off 
weights, and a pail of water for washing bottles, that 
I had to refill twice or three times a day from a well 
half a block away. Here I got my first instruction, 
or, rather, scolding; for the owner knew very little 
about drugs, and tried to hide his ignorance behind 
some big words and coarse language. But that little 
corner was to me a real paradise. Drugs had a won- 
derful attraction to me, and if I say that I looked upon 
those dirty bottles and their labels with veneration, it 
is but partly expressing my feelings. Very soon I had 
examined and tasted every article that was kept in 
stock, and was one day pronounced a great expert 
when I declared that some crumbled remnants of a 
drug of which a customer wanted to buy more were 
rhubarb, judging by the taste. The Latin names on 
bottles and drawers interested me particularly. I was 
not satisfied to know that " Pulv. Rhei" stood for pow- 
dered rhubarb, or " Tr. Opii" for laudanum ; I wanted 
to know more about them. Now, my employer ridi- 
culed all efforts at information or education ; but he 
could not deter me. The only time at my disposal 
was an hour after dinner, when there generally was no 
business and the owner took a nap. Among the few 
books that this dealer possessed, I had found an old 
" Materia Medica," and a book without a title-page, 
which I would now call a first attempt at a " Dis- 
pensatory." These two books formed my library. I 
myself had received no instruction beyond that which 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 207 

a small country school at the cross-roads between four 
hamlets could impart during the winter months, when 
the boys were not wanted by their fathers in the field 
or garden, and I had to iuvent my own way of gather- 
ing information. If my preceptor — excuse the name — 
would see me with the books, he would scold me aud 
even threaten to burn them • so that my studying had 
to be done stealthily. This is the way I went about 
it : I cut slips of pasteboard that fitted into my vest- 
pocket, aud on each one I wrote all the information I 
could get about a drug, commencing with the first bot- 
tle, and continuing as I found them on the shelves, 
without any system whatever. For instance, there 
was Tr. Opii. The Latin name written in full was 
the heading on my slip. Then came the English 
name, the plant from which it was derived, the dose, 
antidote, and mode of preparation. The natural orders 
my books did not mention, nor the shape of leaves, 
fruits, stems, or roots ; in fact, nothing at all of vege- 
table morphology ; and it was left to my own imagina- 
tion to depict my idea of the plant. I remember that 
for years I thought that opium grew on a tree, under 
which my fanciful imagination saw the unfortunate 
victims that had, unconscious of their danger, looked 
for rest in its shade and inhaled its deadly odor. 
Sometimes I added remarks, giving my own experi- 
ence or observations regarding the drug. For in- 
stance, under laudanum, there was the note : " John 
Brown says that a teaspoonful, given by mistake, 



208 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

killed his baby;" or, " John Smith bought two ounces 
to kill an old dog." AVe may smile at this crude and 
unsystematic way of gathering information ; but to 
me, without the necessary previous education, the com- 
piling of such data on a small slip was as much work 
as the writing of a scientific essay is to a scholar. And 
wasn't I proud of my collection of memoranda ! Never 
did an Egyptian priest guard his papyrus rolls with 
greater veneration and pride than I watched over these 
pasteboard slips. I always carried some in my pocket, 
and whenever opportunity offered, memorized or re- 
cited, when sweeping the cellar, running on errands, 
rocking the baby, grooming the horse, or washing the 
wagon. It was an odd and hard way of entering into 
the mysteries of pharmacy, but a fruitful and success- 
ful one ; and even to-day, while the walk through life 
lies before me like a pleasant, easy journey, I recall 
with pleasure and satisfaction those days of my ap- 
prenticeship, and their recollection has often been a 
soothing medicament in the turmoil and worry of later 
enterprises and disappointments.' 

" And this man," continued the Proprietor, " begin- 
ning so modestly and under such unfavorable circum- 
stances, is to -day one of the leaders in pharmacy. He 
was called to the chair of a pharmaceutical college, he 
has received the highest honor that American pharmacy 
can bestow on her faithful sons, and science owes many 
valuable essays and investigations to his clear and pro- 
ductive mind. If he could reach this goal, why cannot 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 209 

you ? Set a noble purpose before you, and make it 
the object of your life ; subordinate to it all wishes, 
desires, or temptations that may approach you, how- 
ever seducing or glittering they may be, and believe 
me, honestly following this purpose, with integrity in 
your heart, you will some day be a leader in your pro- 
fession, honored and respected by all." 

"I beg your pardon," interrupted the Manager, who 
had come in from the store, followed by the Senior ; 
" a customer left this bottle with us, and asked us to 
tell him whether it contained pure chloroform or a 
mixture of chloroform and alcohol. He said he 
bought it in the mountains, where he spent some days 
for the purpose of collecting butterflies and other in- 
sects, and suspects that it is not pure chloroform. He 
will be back in a few minutes." 

At the same time he handed the Proprietor a partly 
filled bottle labelled " Chloroform." 

" Well, what can we do about it ?" asked the Pro- 
prietor, looking at the undetermined faces around him. 
As no one answered, he continued: "Whenever we 
wish to detect an adulterant in a liquid drug, — and 
especially when we know what this adulterant is, — 
we should ask ourselves whether, by adding a third 
liquid, we cannot separate the first two. You know 
that by adding water to spirit of peppermint a milki- 
ness is produced, which consists of finely divided par- 
ticles of oil of peppermint ; the water mixes with the 
alcohol, and this mixture is not able to hold all the oil 

14 



210 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

in solution. Now, who can suggest anything similar 
in the case in question ?" 

" Put water to it," said the Senior ; " it will mix 
with the alcohol, while the chloroform will drop to the 
bottom." At the same time he took the suspected 
chloroform in one hand, and, putting the other on the 
hydrant, started to fill it with water. 

" Use care and discretion," said the Proprietor, in- 
terfering. " Suppose this test should prove a failure, 
you would have nothing left for further experiments ; 
nor is it necessary to destroy the customer's property 
entirely for the sake of the investigation. Take fifteen 
cubic centimetres of it and put it in a bottle of one 
hundred and twenty cubic centimetres capacity ; now 
almost fill the bottle with water, leaving room enough 
to allow shaking ; then shake violently for some time, 
and pour the liquid into a graduate, allowing it to 
stand a while. If the chloroform is pure, there should 
be almost fifteen cubic centimetres of it at the bottom. 
But what do we notice ?" 

After watching the liquid for a while, the Senior 
said : " Why, there are less than seven cubic centi- 
metres of chloroform in it ; therefore eight cubic 
centimetres must have been alcohol." 

" Not quite," said the Proprietor ; " the supernatant 
mixture of water and alcohol will hold a little chloro- 
form in solution. But in testing it is always good to 
use two tests, based on different properties of the drug. 
We can easily apply a second test by determining the 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 211 

specific gravity. Dry this graduate thoroughly/' he 
continued, handing the Junior a ten-cubic-centimetre 
graduate, "and balance it on the scale. This done, 
pour into it carefully ten cubic centimetres of the sus- 
pected liquid and weigh it. The specific gravity of 
chloroform in the temperature of this room is about 
1.475, and ten cubic centimetres, therefore, should 
weigh 14.75 grammes." 

The Junior did as told, all eyes watching him. 

"It weighs only 11.460 grammes," he said. 

"Now, let us suppose," explained the Proprietor, 
" that from our first test we were justified to call this a 
mixture of equal parts of alcohol and chloroform, and 
calculate how much such a mixture would weigh. 
There are five cubic centimetres of chloroform of a 
specific gravity of 1.475; they weigh 5X1475, or 
7.375 grammes; and five cubic centimetres of alcohol 
of a specific gravity of 0.817 would weigh 5 X .817, 
or 4.085 grammes, and adding 7.375 and 4.085, we 
have 11.460 grammes, or the same as the actual weight 
of the liquid as you found it. Judging by these two 
tests, you may tell the customer that the liquid is a 
mixture of equal parts by volume of chloroform and 
alcohol." 

" Thank you," said the Manager, returning to the 
store. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

SPECIFIC GRAVITY — THE POUND — DETERMINING SPE- 
CIFIC GRAVITY — ADHESION HYDROMETER. 

" I do not fully understand," said the Junior, " how 
this test by specific gravity was made ; in fact, I know 
very little about specific gravity, and would be thank- 
ful for some further information on the subject." 

" To comprehend the subject of specific gravity or 
specific weight," replied the Proprietor, "which seems 
to be so troublesome to many beginners, let us first 
understand what is meant by l gravity' or ' weight.' " 
And seeing that the Junior could not answer, he con- 
tinued ; " Why do things like meat, iron, or bricks 
weigh ?" 

The Junior thought a while, and the expression of 
his face indicated that he was not much pleased with 
the question. Then he said : " They weigh because 
they press the scale-pan down. Everything has a cer- 
tain weight ; we all know that. I do not see that any 
explanation for it should be needed." 

The Proprietor replied : "How often have we occa- 
sion to observe that facts or phenomena of every-day 
occurrence are considered, by the thoughtless, to need, 
and to have, no explanation ! It was this quiet ap- 
proval to everything in the surrounding nature with- 
212 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 213 

out deliberation aud effort to search for truth that 
characterized the dulness and thoughtlessness of the 
Middle Ages ; while to-day enlightenment on every 
subject and the instigation to think and to really know 
are the main principles of education. It is much more 
important for a man's welfare and success to be trained 
to stop aud think at every step he takes, than it is to 
memorize and repeat parrot-like the investigation of 
others. Let us see if you cannot be made to correct 
your quick and ill-advised declaration by rational 
thinking. You say that all substances press on the 
scales. Now, tell me, do they press only on the 
scales?" 

" Of course not," replied the Junior ; " they press 
wherever they are put." 

" What, then, seems to be their tendency, their de- 
sire, if I may use this term in connection with inani- 
mate objects ?" 

"They all want to drop to the ground." 

" Precisely ; and would they stop there if nothing 
interfered ? For instance, what do stones do that are 
put on the surface of the ocean ?" 

"They sink to the bottom, of course," replied the 
Junior. 

" And how much farther would they go if there was 
no bottom ?" 

After a few seconds the Junior's face brightened, as 
if he had been inspired by a sudden revelation, like a 
bright sunbeam breaki g through the clouds. 



214 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

" I see what you are driving at," said he. " It is 
the attraction towards the centre of the earth that 
makes things weigh." 

"Certainly; and it is the force of this attraction 
exercised on a body that constitutes its weight." 

After a second the Junior asked, with some hesi- 
tation : 

" Is not the attraction of the earth the same at all 
times and places ?" 

" Certainly it is." 

" Should not, then, all bodies weigh alike if they 
are attracted alike?" 

The Proprietor answered : " While the attraction, as 
such, like all forces of nature, is equal everywhere, 
and extends its power indiscriminately on all bodies, 
it exerts itself with the more energy the closer together 
the molecules of an object are, or, as we call it scien- 
tifically, the greater its density is ; as in the case of iron 
or gold, in comparison with wood or cloth." 

" That is, then, what we call weighing ' light or 
heavy/ " said the Junior. 

" Yes, sir ; and now tell me what means we have of 
measuring this attraction of the earth, or gravitation 
of all bodies?" 

" We weigh the object and express its weight in 
pounds or ounces." 

" What, then, is a pound ?" 

"It is the unit of weight with which all other 
weights are compared ; it is generally represented in 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 215 

practice by a piece of iron or brass of a definite 
weight." 

" This unit originated with the weight of a grain of 
wheat of average size ; and even to-day we call our 
smallest unit of weight a grain. Seven thousand of 
these grains form a pound, avoirdupois, which, for the 
sake of convenience, is generally represented, as you 
said, by a corresponding piece of brass or iron. In the 
metric system the gravity of a cubic centimetre of dis- 
tilled water is made the unit of weight, as you know. 
Let us now take another step. If we compare objects 
by weight, a pound or a kilogramme — whatever unit 
of weight we adopt — will vary in volume, according 
to the density of the respective substance. Thus, a 
pound of butter is more bulky than a pound of iron, 
etc." 

" Such a comparison is not very convenient in scien- 
tific investigations, owing to the different volumes 
which cannot easily be measured, on account of the 
irregular shape of most bodies. If all objects were 
exact squares or spheres, there would be less difficulty ; 
but such is not the case. It is, therefore, natural that 
a desire must have arisen with early investigators for 
a different comparison, — one based on equal volumes 
of the substances compared. Some time ago, when I 
explained the metric system to you, I used this little 
hollow cube." 

" I remember it well," said the Junior ; " it repre- 
sented the cubic centimetre, and the weight of that 



216 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

cubeful of water constitutes the metric unit of weight, — 
the gramme." 

" So it does," continued the Proprietor. " Now, im- 
agine that we had a great many of such little cubes made 
of different materials, — wood, iron, gold, etc. ; others 
made hollow and filled with liquids, — water, alcohol, 
chloroform, the different oils, etc. Then, by weighing 
these cubes and comparing their weights, we would 
obtain a list of figures indicating how much heavier or 
lighter a volume of one substance is than that of an- 
other. For instance, if we found the cube of iron to 
weigh seven grammes and that filled with mercury to 
weigh fourteen grammes, we would say that mercury is 
twice as heavy as iron ; and so on. Such a comparison 
of the weights of equal volumes becomes, however, more 
comprehensive and useful if one substance is made the 
unit and all others are compared with this same unit. 
For this purpose water has been universally accepted, 
and forms the standard of specific gravity; in other 
words, all scientists have agreed to designate the spe- 
cific gravity of water as 1, and to distinguish that of 
any other substance by comparison with this unit. If 
you hada cubic centimetre of iron, for instance, you 
would need seven and eight-tenths cubic centimetres 
of water to balance it on the scales; you therefore 
say that the specific gravity of iron is 7.8 ; and so 
on." 

" Then the specific gravity of any substance," inter- 
rupted the Junior, " is the weight of one cubic centi- 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 217 

metre of the substance expressed in cubic centimetres 
of water." 

" Exactly. But as you see that only the ratio of 
the two weights is wanted, it is immaterial whether we 
take just a cubic centimetre of each substance or any 
other volume, so long as the two volumes compared 
are alike. We might just as well compare a litre of 
water and a cubic decimetre of iron ; or a cubic metre 
of each, or a thimbleful, or a pailful ; the ratio of the 
two weights will always be 1 : 7.8. The definition of 
specific gravity is, therefore " 

" I know," exclaimed the Junior ; " let me tell you. 
The specific gravity of a substance is its weight in 
comparison with the weight of an equal volume of 
water." 

After a while the Junior continued : 

" In order to find the specific weight of different 
substances, is it necessary to cut or manufacture pieces 
of known capacity ?" 

"Not at all," replied the Proprietor. "I only 
started my explanation with the imaginary cubes for 
the sake of illustration. I will now proceed to show 
you how this specific gravity can be determined, and 
how easily it can be done with hardly any apparatus. 
Let us first consider liquids. We can easily measure 
equal volumes and then weigh them. For this purpose 
so-called ' specific-gravity' bottles are constructed, — 
bottles with a perforated glass stopper. After filling 
the bottle with a liquid to the top, the stopper is in- 



218 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

serted, forcing by its weight some of the liquid through 
the hole, and thus enabling the operator to measure 
always the same quantity. I have no such bottle here, 
but it is easy to construct one. Let us take this small 
flask and insert into its neck this perforated rubber 
stopper, through which we put a small piece of glass 
tubing, projecting about half an inch. We first ascer- 
tain the combined weight of this flask, stopper, and 
tube, which, as you see, is forty-five grammes. We 
now fill the flask with water to the very top, and press 
the stopper down as far as it will go. You see that 
some of the water runs out of the upper end of the 
small tube. We now dry the bottle carefully and 
weigh it again. Its weight is now 110.5 grammes. 
Deducting forty-five grammes, the weight of the ap- 
paratus alone, leaves 65.5 grammes as the weight of 
the water contained in the bottle. We now pour the 
water out and dry the bottle." 

To do this properly, the Proprietor took an alcohol 
lamp, and held the empty bottle over it, turning it 
around, so as to volatilize all the water adhering to 
the inner surface. Then he continued : 

" Now let us try to find the specific gravity of chlo- 
roform. We will fill the bottle with chloroform, in- 
sert the stopper, wipe dry, and weigh. This time the 
combined weight is 141.87 grammes; from this we 
deduct the weight of the apparatus (forty-five grammes), 
which leaves 96.87 grammes as the weight of the chlo- 
roform. We found before that the same volume of 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 219 

water weighed 65.5 grammes ; therefore chloroform 
weighs as many times as much water as 65.5 is con- 
tained in 96.87, which is 1.479. In other words, the 
specific gravity of chloroform is 1.479. Now try the 
same experiment with alcohol." 

The Junior emptied the bottle, and, after drying it, 
filled it with alcohol, proceeding in every particular 
as he had been shown. At the end of the experiment 
he said : " Weight of apparatus and alcohol, 98.4 
grammes; weight of apparatus alone, forty-five 
grammes. Therefore the weight of alcohol alone is 
53.4 grammes; and this figure, divided by 65.5 (the 
weight in grammes of an equal bulk of water), gives 
0.815, the specific gravity of alcohol." 

"By comparing these calculated figures — namely, 
1.479 and 0.815 — with those given in our ' Pharma- 
copoeia' as the specific weights of chloroform and alco- 
hol, respectively, you will see that our answers are 
nearly correct. I will add that the regular specific- 
gravity bottles are constructed to hold exactly ten or 
one hundred cubic centimetres, so that, after finding 
the weight of the second liquid, we need to cut off 
only one or two decimals, instead of dividing by 65.5, 
as we have done ; for you know that ten cubic centi- 
metres of water weigh exactly ten grammes, and so 
on." 

" I do not quite understand," said the Junior, " why 
it should be necessary to put the stopper with the 
tube, or a perforated stopper, in the neck of the bottle. 



220 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

Why could not we simply fill the bottle to the 
top?" 

"I am glad you ask this question," replied the 
Proprietor ; " and the very best way to find an answer 
will be to let you try the experiment without a 
stopper. First, fill the bottle with water." 

The Junior did as directed. "I think it is full 
now," he said. 

" Is it, indeed ?" said the Proprietor, taking a small 
medicine-dropper, filling it with water, and dropping 
from it a drop on the surface of the water in the 
bottle. " It must be over-full now," he said, " but it 
does not run over." Another drop followed the first 
one, a third and a fourth were added, and so on up to 
nine drops. 

The Junior, a little puzzled, watched the surface 
carefully, and said : " The water is bulging up in the 
centre." 

" So it is," replied the Proprietor ; " there exists a 
certain attraction between liquids and solids, called 
1 adhesion/ which makes the glass hold on to the 
water, keeping it from running over, until the pressure 
of the small elevation of liquid becomes greater than 
the power of adhesion. But, owing to this same ad- 
hesion, you will at once understand how difficult it is 
to exactly fill a bottle, and, if it was filled properly, 
how carefully it must be handled to avoid spilling. 
The insertion of the stopper and tube overcomes this 
difficulty to a great extent, because the exposed sur- 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 221 

face at the end of the tube is so very small that the 
possible discrepancy would be less than a drop. 

" I will show you," continued the Proprietor, " how 
we can use this home-made specific-gravity bottle, even 
for solids. For instance, we wish to find the specific 
weight of iron, taking this little nail to operate with. 
I first ascertain its weight, which is 1.31 grammes. 
Now I put it into the bottle, and fill the bottle with 
water, as before. The complete weight is 111.63 
grammes. Deducting from this the weight of the 
apparatus (forty-five grammes), leaves 66.63 grammes 
as the weight of the water and iron. Deducting from 
this the weight of the iron, 1.31 grammes, leaves 
65.32 grammes as the weight of the water alone. You 
know that we found before that the water weighed 
65.5 grammes. Why does it weigh less now?" 

" Because there is not so much of it." 

"How much less is there?" 

"65.5 minus 65.32 equals 0.18 gramme." 

" How much less is there in bulk ?" 

" As much as the piece of iron displaced." 

"Correct; therefore 0.18 gramme represents the 
weight of a bulk of water equal to the bulk of iron." 

"Oh, I see!" exclaimed the Junior; "we now 
divide 1.31 by 0.18, and the quotient — 7.28 — is the 
specific weight of the metal." 

"So it is." 

" But did you not say before that the specific gravity 
of iron was 7.8 ?" 



222 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

"Yes, sir; but this difference is easily explained," 
said the Proprietor. " In the first place, this nail is 
not pure iron, but iron mixed with a certain percentage 
of carbon. In the second place, experiments of this 
kind cannot make any claim to scientific correctness, 
for which much more care, finer apparatus, and a 
greater number of successive experiments are neces- 
sary. The temperature should also be taken into ac- 
count. But the object of these experiments is not to 
revise or verify investigations of others, but only to 
show you the method of reaching such results. Now 
find the specific weight of zinc." 

The Junior took the small, irregular piece of sheet- 
zinc that his preceptor handed him, and repeated the 
preceding experiment. Then he reported the weight 
of the zinc alone to be 2.36 grammes, and continued : 
" Weight of the bottle, water, and zinc, 112.53 gram- 
mes. This, minus the weight of the bottle (forty- 
five grammes), gives us the weight of the water and 
zinc, 67.53 grammes; this, less the weight of the zinc 
(2.36 grammes), gives us the weight of the water in the 
bottle, 65.17 grammes; deducting this from 65.5 (the 
weight in grammes of the bottle full of water), leaves 
0.33 gramme as the weight of the displaced water. 
Dividing 2.36 (the weight in grammes of the zinc) by 
0.33 gives 7.15 as the specific gravity of zinc." 

After a while he remarked : " Suppose, now, that I 
wished to find the specific weight of alum, would not the 
water dissolve a part of it during the experiment?" 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 223 

" In case of a soluble substance/' answered the Pre- 
ceptor, " we first compare that substance with a liquid 
in which it is not soluble, — for instance, alcohol or 
turpentine, — and afterwards calculate the weight of 
an equal bulk of water; for the specific weights of 
alcohol and water must be in the same proportion as 
any given volume of alcohol is to an equal bulk of 
water. For your own instruction, you must try this 
experiment later, and report the result or any diffi- 
culty that you may find." 

" Now one more question," said the Junior. " Sup- 
pose the substance floats in the water ?" 

"In that case," replied the Preceptor, "attach a 
heavy body to it, so that it will sink. For instance, 
take this small cork. First take its weight. Then 
put through it this nail of known weight. We also 
know the weight of the water displaced by the nail 
alone. Now ascertain the weight of a bulk of water 
displaced by the cork and nail, and subtract from it 
the weight of the water displaced by the nail alone, 
and the difference will be the weight of a bulk of water 
equal to the bulk of the cork. Then proceed as before." 

"Is there any other method of finding a specific 
weight? For instance, I might have a valuable ar- 
ticle, of which I would not like to cut a small piece 
that would fit in the bottle." 

" In such cases we make use of another quality of 
all substances, — namely, the loss of weight on im- 
mersing in water." 



224 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

"I remember/' said the Junior, "that I once heard 
a definition of specific gravity in which this loss of 
weight was mentioned." 

"Yes, sir," answered the Proprietor; "specific 
gravity is sometimes described as being the propor- 
tion of the weight of a body to its loss of weight in 
water. While this definition is scientifically correct, 
it is confusing to the beginner, because it is based on a 
property of all matter which in itself has nothing to 
do with specific gravity, but is only used to find the 
specific weight of solids. This is done in the follow- 
ing manner : If we weigh any article, — for instance, 
this piece of iron, representing one hundred grammes, 
— first in the ordinary manner, and afterwards by 
suspending it from one pan of the scales and letting it 
hang in a graduate filled with water, which we place 
under the scales, we will notice that it weighs less the 
second time. You see that this 100-gramme weight 
weighs only 87.5 grammes now, and the loss of 
weight is therefore 12.5 grammes. Dividing 12.5 into 
100, we have 8, the specific weight of iron." 

"According to this definition," said the Junior, 
after a short reflection, "12.5 represents the weight of 
an equal bulk of water." 

" Certainly ; what else could it represent ? It is a 
self-evident truth that no two bodies can be in the 
same place at the same time, and that if one substance 
wishes to take the place of another, it has to use force, 
or push the other aside, as the piece of iron does the 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 225 

water. But this same property is also possessed by 
the water, which therefore resists ; you might say it 
pushes back iu trying to throw the foreign body out. 
In this effort it will partly succeed whenever the in- 
truder is light, like cork ; while a heavy body, like 
iron, remains unmoved. In applying this general 
property of matter to the determination of specific 
gravity, you will see that we can only use it for 
solids." 

"You showed me before," said the Junior, "how 
we could detect an adulteration of chloroform by 
means of the specific weight. Cannot the same 
method be applied to other liquids ?" 

" Why, certainly ; and it is done very often. Take, 
for instance, alcohol, of which such enormous quanti- 
ties are used in the arts. It would be very easy to 
sell alcohol adulterated with water, if it were not for 
the change of its specific weight. Easier methods, 
however, than the one that we used are employed for 
this purpose. A glass tube with a bulb at one end, 
similar to the tubes used for thermometers, is arranged 
by a weight, — for instance, a little mercury put into 
the bulb, — so that it will float in pure alcohol, the tube 
partly projecting out of the alcohol. The point on 
the tube where it projects is marked zero, meaning no 
water. Now add one per cent, of water to the alcohol, 
and again float the tube; the liquid, having now a 
greater specific weight, the instrument, of course, dis- 
places a little less of it, and the tube projects a little 

15 



226 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

higher out of it. Mark the projecting point 1, mean- 
ing one per cent, of water. Then add another per 
cent, of water, and repeat the operation, marking the 
projecting point 2, and so continue until you have 
reached 100, meaning one hundred parts of water and 
none of alcohol. Such an instrument is called a hy- 
drometer, or water- measurer ; or, if it is arranged to 
measure the percentage of alcohol, an alcoholometer." 

" Are there not similar instruments for detecting 
adulterations in other liquids ?" 

" Certainly," replied the Proprietor ; " we can con- 
struct such a meter for any two liquids that we desire. 
Those most commonly in use, based on the varying 
specific weight of a mixture of the respective liquid 
with either water or solid ingredients dissolved in it 
are the lactometer, or milk-measurer ; the saccharome- 
ter, or sugar-measurer ; and the urinometer." 



CHAPTEE XVII. 

PREPARATION OF PILLS — POISONS — EXCIPIENTS — 
PILL-ROLLERS — NICKNAMES — CAPSULES — PILL- 
MASS — LAZINESS. 

After these words, the Proprietor returned to the 
prescription-counter, where he saw some prescriptions, 
and, being told that the owner would call later for 
them, he called the Junior to read the first one. The 

Junior read : 

" Acetanilidi, 

Quin. Sulph., aa gr. xxx; 

Pulv. Capsici, gr. x ; 

Stiychn. Sulph., gr. ss j 

Acidi Arsenopi, gr. i. 
Misce et ft. pilulse No. xxx." 

" How would you proceed to compound it ?" said 
the Proprietor. 

" Well, I would put all the ingredients in a mortar 
and mix them." 

" In what order?" 

After a moment's reflection, the Junior said : " I do 
not think it would make any difference in what order 
we mix them." 

" And yet it does," replied the Proprietor. " When 
you have various ingredients to mix in powder form, 
you must first examine when they can be powdered 

227 



228 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

best, — before or after mixing ; and with few exceptions 
they can be powdered better before mixing. If yon 
add the acetanilid — which comes to us in small scales 
— to the powdered capsicum, you will not only experi- 
ence great difficulty in powdering, from the fact that the 
somewhat elastic particles of the capsicum embed and 
protect the small scales of the acetanilid and keep them 
from being; broken into smaller fragments by tritura- 
tion, but the dust arising in consequence of the agita- 
tion of the powder will be a disturbing element, causing 
violent sneezing, and thus delay the operation. There- 
fore, make it a rule to powder each ingredient sepa- 
rately — if necessary, in a separate mortar — before 
mixing. Xow weigh out the acetanilid and begin the 
operation." 

The Junior proceeded as told. Then he looked 
inquiringly at his Preceptor. 

" Another important thing in preparing pills," con- 
tinued the Proprietor, "is to have the different in- 
gredients well mixed, and this is all the more neces- 
sary when such potent drugs as arsenous acid and 
strychnine form a part of the prescription. By careless- 
ness an overdose of either of these might be put into 
one pill, and serious results follow therefrom. Add 
now the arsenous acid, using this finer prescription- 
scale to weigh it." 

The Junior put the one-grain weight on the scale- 
pan, and then opened the small poison-closet, in which 
all powerful drugs were kept. It was so arranged 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 229 

that a bell rang every time it was opened, thereby 
calling the operator's attention to the possible dangers 
to which carelessness might expose him and his cus- 
tomers. The arsenous acid, which was kept in powder 
form, was soon weighed ; and the Junior then turned 
to strychnine, but hesitated before taking the container 
from the shelf. 

" You notice," said the Proprietor, " three different 
bottles with strychnine : one small one, containing 
one-eighth of an ounce, as we buy it from the manu- 
facturer, and two larger ones, with red labels, on the 
larger one of which is plainly written ' Trituration of 
Strychnine Sulphate, 1:16;' and below this, l Sugar 
of Milk, 15 parts (by weight), Strychnine Sulphate, 
1 part;' and on the other vial, in the same way, 
i 1 : 10/ The object in keeping these bottles is to 
facilitate weighing. We often receive prescriptions 
calling for one-eighth, one-tenth, or one-sixteenth 
grain, or even less ; and, although our scales are sensi- 
tive to one- sixty-fourth grain, I generally prefer to use 
these triturations to reduce the possibility of a mistake. 
Instead of one-eighth grain, we would then use two 
grains, multiplying the prescribed quantity by sixteen. 
If the subdivisions are made to tenths, we use the 
1 : 10 trituration." 

" Is not this second trituration official ?" asked the 
Senior. 

" The i Pharmacopoeia' gives a general formula for 
triturates, and as an illustration the trituration of 



230 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

Elaterin, adopting the proportion of one part of the 
active substance to nine of Sugar of Milk. I consider 
it very fortunate that these triturations have been 
added to the list of our ' Pharmacopoeia/ so as to 
establish uniformity in their preparation, although 
other proportions may be adopted whenever a need 
for them is established. " 

" Then we must use eight grains of this trituration 
for our prescription?" asked the Junior. 

" We would, if we wished to use it," replied the 
Proprietor. " Half a grain, however, can easily be 
weighed." 

The Junior weighed the Strychnine, closely watched 
by the Proprietor ; and, after putting it into the mortar, 
waited for further instructions. 

" We will not use the poison-closet any more for 
this prescription," said the Proprietor ; " therefore, 
after convincing yourself that each article has been put 
into its proper place, close the cabinet. Also wipe the 
scale-pans and close the glass doors of the casing of the 
delicate scales, to prevent dust from entering. Now 
triturate the arsenous acid and strychnine sulphate 
well with the acetanilid, and afterwards add the qui- 
nine. Finally, add the capsicum, agitating again, but 
more geutly than you did before, to keep us from 
sneezing. 

" We have now before us in powdered form the 
active ingredients of the pills. But pills consist of two 
parts, — the active ingredients and the excipient, by 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 231 

which latter is meant a substance that imparts the 
proper consistence to the powder mixture or converts it 
into a mass. 

" Sometimes one of the ingredients forms a proper 
excipient; for instance, when a solid extract, like 
that of henbane or dandelion, is ordered. Sometimes 
the physician prescribes the excipient ; but in most 
cases the selection of the excipient and the determina- 
tion of the quantity are left to the pharmacist. For 
this purpose you see here two bottles, one containing 
a powder, the other a viscid liquid. The first is a 
mixture of one part of acacia, two of tragacanth, and 
two of sugar, — a combination of adhesive materials 
which, by long experience, I have found to be exceed- 
ingly serviceable. It is used whenever the prescription 
calls for ingredients that are moist or deliquescent ; the 
powder absorbs the moisture and readily forms a mass. 
The other preparation — the liquid — is a solution of the 
powder in a mixture of four parts of glucose and one 
of glycerin ; one per cent, of benzoic acid as a pre- 
servative is added. It forms an excellent excipient 
for dry powder mixtures, such as ours. Occasionally 
the addition of a few drops of water is useful, when 
the powder has great absorptive powers, as is the case 
with rhubarb. The glycerin in the excipient keeps 
the pills from getting so hard that they cannot easily 
be dissolved by the intestinal juices, as pills will do 
when prepared only with acacia and water/' 

The Junior added a few drops of the liquid ex- 



232 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

cipient to the powder, and, after brisk agitation, suc- 
ceeded in making a plastic mass of the proper consist- 
ence, and gave it a cylindrical shape with the hands. 
He then put it on a porcelain pill-tile, with a scale 
divided into thirty equal parts, and proceeded to roll 
it out to the length of the scale by means of a large 
spatula. 

"I am glad/' said the Proprietor, "that you pay 
proper attention to the thickness of the mass, which 
must, of course, be uniform in every part. Some op- 
erators use a roller, which is a smooth piece of wood 
about six inches square, provided with a handle ; 
others only use their hands ; and machines have also 
been constructed to insure perfect uniformity of the 
long, thin cylinder to which the mass is rolled out. 
The next operation is to place this cylinder alongside 
of the scale, and, with a thin spatula, cut it into thirty 
equal parts. The rounding of the parts is best done 
with the fingers. 

" In this manipulation experience is the only teacher, 
and it cannot be expected that a beginner will prepare 
such a preparation as quickly as an old pharmacist. 
The rounding can be perfected by rolling the pills 
finally under this pill-finisher, — a round, plate-shaped 
piece of wood of about three inches diameter, hollowed 
out to a uniform depth." 

" Shall I now put them into the box ?" asked the 
Junior. 

" It will be better to roll them once more under the 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 233 

finisher with a little rice flour, to prevent them from 
adhering to one another or to the box. For this pur- 
pose I consider lycopodiurn the best powder; but, 
owing to the white color of the pills we just made, rice 
flour is preferable in this case. We now put the pills 
into the box, and they are ready for dispensing." 

" Pill-making," said the Junior, " seems to me one 
of the most difficult tasks of our profession, and I do 
not wonder that we are often called 'pill-rollers/ 
although it always makes me mad." 

" Well, I did not think you were so sensitive," said 
the Senior, who had meanwhile prepared another pre- 
scription, calling for ten large capsules. He put the 
box containing the capsules on the counter in front of 
his Preceptor, with a decided gesture of pride, as if to 
say : " Look at this ; I made these without any instruc- 
tion, and yet they are perfect !" 

The Proprietor took the box, opened it, and glanced 
at the prescription, which had been placed under the 
box, as was the rule in this pharmacy whenever a 
medicine was finished. A faint cloud of displeasure 
darkened his face for a second, when the Senior, ex- 
pecting a word of approval or praise, could no longer 
restrain himself, and said : " Are they not fine ? Shall 
I write the directions and wrap up the package ?" 

"When will they be called for?" asked the Pro- 
prietor. 

" In an hour or two," was the answer. 

"Then let them stand here for a while; there is 



234 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

time enough to file the prescription." And, turning 
to the Junior, he added : 

" You said before that the epithet ' pill-roller' dis- 
pleased you when applied to yourself. Now tell me 
the reason for your emotion." 

" Well," said the Junior, " it is mostly said in a 
tone of derision or contempt ; and those who call us 
by that name generally wish to indicate thereby that 
they consider us a ridiculous set of men, or cranks ; 
and they often accuse us of charging exorbitant prices 
and of taking advantage of the misfortunes of the sick 
to enrich ourselves. Even the daily press hacks at us, 
and spreads all kinds of adverse reports about us and 
our business that are exceedingly annoying. Only the 
other day I saw an article in a Sunday paper, in which 
a reporter gave his experience in pricing a certain pre- 
scription in twenty drug-stores, where he was charged 
twenty different prices ; and then he figures out the 
actual cost of the ingredients, and went on to show that 
we ask a profit of five hundred per cent. ! All such 
talk and writing makes me feel like quitting pharmacy 
and going in some other line of business." 

" Well, that is quite a long list of crimes charged 
against your pharmaceutical greatness," said the Pro- 
prietor, ironically. " You should, however, learn to 
listen to the criticism of your fellow-men with com- 
posure, and to rather consider such criticism the 
answer of an echo to your own words and deeds. If 
you speak and act cautiously, courteously, and intelli- 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 235 

gently, the echo will be in the same tone ; but if you 
scold like a wicked boy, the echo sauces back and 
vexes you. And why should you be angry if others 
call you what you really are, — a pill-roller or poison- 
mixer? In fact, if we have any reason for taking 
exception to that appellation, it is that large establish- 
ments and labor-saving machines have taken from us 
much of our former occupation, so that pill -rolling is, 
of necessity, practised less in the shops nowadays than 
formerly. Be proud of your work ! Nothing en- 
nobles you more than the faithful performance of your 
duty ; and it is much more honorable for you to be 
called an excellent pill-roller than a smart 'soda-water 
clerk/ with a suggestion of l bar-keeper' in the title. 
There are many instances on record where nicknames 
or contemptuous by-words became the battle cries of 
powerful political or religious parties. There were the 
inmates of a certain convent nicknamed i Capuchins/ 
on account of the hood that they wore ; and this name 
was retained for the order that afterwards became, as 
you know, one of the most powerful religious organiza- 
tions that ever existed. It was the same with the 
1 Whigs' in England and with the ' Huguenots' in 
France ; and, as an example from modern times, I 
may cite the much-abused ' Mugwumps/ who cast the 
deciding vote in several Presidential elections There- 
fore, don't worry about the ' pill-roller / and as to ex- 
aggerated newspaper reports, we all know that the 
press of to-day hunts for sensational stories, but the 



236 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

intelligent reader takes such ' penny-a-line' reports 
' cum grano salis.' In times of compulsory economy, 
like ours, pricing merchandise before buying is a com- 
mon custom ; and if the reporter would call at twenty 
different shoe-stores for the price of a pair of shoes, he 
would probably obtain a similar result. Professional 
skill, however, does not come under the head of com- 
mon merchandise ; it is each man's own property, for 
which he can charge whatever he pleases. Not only 
the pharmacist does so, but also the doctor, the lawyer, 
the architect, and others ; and if your skill is actually 
worth more than that of your neighbor, the public will 
soon discover this fact, and willingly pay you more 
for it. Therefore let not unjust criticism annoy you ; 
rather show how good a ' pill roller' you are by pre- 
paring this prescription." 

With these words he took a small pill-box that had 
been left for renewal of the contents, and looked for 
the corresponding prescription on the file. It read as 
follows : 

Aloes, 2 ; 
Asafcetidae, 1.5. 
Ft. pil No. xx, pulv. cinnam. convol. 

"That does not seem difficult," said the Junior; 
" only I do not understand what is to be done with the 
cinnamon." 

"Written complete, the directions read, in Latin, 
' Fiant pilulse numero viginti, pulvere cinnamomi 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 237 

convolvendse / or, in English, ' There are to be 
made twenty pills, to be rolled in cinnamon pow- 
der.' " 

" Oh, I see ; to disguise the unpleasant taste/' said 
the Junior. " I first weigh the ingredients : aloes, 
two grammes. But what kind of aloes shall I take ?" 

The Proprietor replied : "In a ease like this, when 
the physician only mentions the drug, without specify- 
ing the kind, we must use our own judgment. There 
are a number of official preparations of aloes in the 
' Pharmacopoeia/ and in all the purified Socotrine aloes 
is used ; we, therefore, must use this same kind, unless 
otherwise directed." 

The Junior then weighed the required quantity of 
purified aloes and that of asafetida, — both in powdered 
form, — and put them into a mortar. He then took the 
bottle containing the excipient powder, and took as 
much of the powder as would lie on the end of a 
spatula, when the Proprietor interfered. 

" In studying pharmacy/' he said, " one of the car- 
dinal points is to be exact ; and each action or deed, 
however small, must be done in such a way as to be a 
lesson for future instruction. In taking the excipient, 
you should, therefore, as a beginner, weigh the quan- 
tity, and not depend on such indefinite directions as, ' a 
little/ or, i as much as will lie on a penny/ or the like. 
Suppose the pills should turn out to be a failure, and 
you come to the conclusion that you have taken too 
much of the excipient or too little, how could you in- 



238 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

crease or decrease the quantity, not knowing how much 
you took at first ?" 

"How much shall I take?" asked the Junior, impa- 
tiently. 

" Take none at all," replied the Proprietor. " Pills 
containing gums or resins are best prepared with pow- 
dered soap as an excipient ; and our constant guide — 
the { United States Pharmacopoeia' — will tell us how 
much to take." 

He opened the " Pharmacopoeia," which was always 
at hand behind the prescription-counter, and pointed 
to the formula for the official aloes and asafetida 
pills. 

" But the proportion is different from that in our 
prescription," remarked the Junior. 

" Certainly. If the doctor had wished to order the 
official pills, he would have written so ; but the official 
formula will teach us the necessary proportion of the 
excipient to the drugs. You see that there is half as 
much soap as there are aloes and asafetida together; 
how much, therefore, should we take ?" 

" One-half of three and a half grammes, or one and 
three-quarter grammes." 

" Express it in the metric system." 

" One gramme and seventy-five centigrammes," said 
the Junior, weighing the soap. 

" It is advisable," said the Proprietor, " to write the 
kind and amount of the excipient used on the prescrip- 
tion, so that, in case of renewal, the same will again be 



THE PHARMACIST AT WOKK 239 

used, although to the thinking pharmacist there should 
exist no doubt what to do." 

The Junior quickly mixed the three ingredients, and 
then dropped a rather large quantity of water into the 
mixture from a medicine-dropper, which was used in 
making pills and always lay on the prescription- 
counter. 

"How many drops did you take?" asked the Pro- 
prietor. 

" I do not know," answered the Junior, in confusion, 
discovering by the question that he had disregarded 
the advice just given. " But," he added, as an excuse, 
" I thought all that was necessary was to add sufficient 
water to make a mass." 

" Yes, sir," said the Proprietor ; " but it would be 
good for you to know how much this sufficiency is. 
Now go on with the work." 

The Junior took the pestle and triturated the mass 
in a lively manner. At first the water seemed to dis- 
appear under the dry dust of the pow T der, but gradually 
the mass assumed a plastic appearance, and then, after 
a few more strokes, a very soft, almost semiliquid 
paste resulted. 

" Oh, pshaw !" exclaimed the Junior, ceasing his 
work in disappointment ; " there is too much water in 
it. I must now add some absorbent powder, liquorice 
or marshmallow." 

" And by adding in that way," said the Proprietor, 
"you will make the pills as large as marbles. The 



240 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

addition of an absorbent powder is allowable only 
when the original ingredients are too soft to form a 
mass, — for instance, when pills are ordered consisting 
of extract of belladonna or of hyoscyamus, — but not to 
cover up a mistake in manipulation." 

" But what shall I do about it ?" asked the Junior. 

" Throw the paste away, clean the mortar, and 
commence over again, following all the directions I 
gave you. I might have prevented you from adding 
the water, but since the ingredients of this prescription 
are not very valuable and time is not pressing, I 
thought I would give you a lesson according to the 
principle that a burnt child shuns the fire. I hope 
you will never forget that the greatest care is necessary 
in adding water to a pill-mass in which soap is the 
excipient." 

During the conversation with the Junior the Pro- 
prietor had occasionally cast a glance at the box of 
capsules which the Senior had prepared ; and while 
the Junior washed the mortar, he called the former, 
with the words : " Let us look again at your cap- 
sules." 

The Senior took the box and opened it ; but he had 
hardly looked at the contents when he exclaimed : 

" Well, I declare ! Did you ever !" 

The mass had evidently expanded and forced the 
two parts of the capsules apart, so that some of the 
covers were entirely pushed off. On closer examina- 
tion it was discovered that wherever the mass had 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 241 

protruded it bad a porous appearance and seemed to be 
swelling further. 

" I never saw anything like it in my life/' exclaimed 
the Senior ; " they were all right when I put them in !" 

"After you have allowed your astonishment and 
disgust full scope/' said the Preceptor, " let us come 
back to rational thought and discover the cause of the 
peculiar behavior of the capsules. What is the first 
thing that every observer would notice ?" 

"The enlargement and porosity of the pill- mass," 
said the Senior. " When I put it into the capsules it 
was not like that, although I thought towards the end 
of the work that I noticed a certain elasticity in it." 

" What brought this change about ?" 

"That's what I don't know." 

" Was there any force acting on the capsules from 
without?" 

" No, certainly not," said the Senior. And, after a 
short pause, he continued : "A gas must have formed 
within the mass, and, in trying to escape, forced the 
capsules apart." 

"Now you are on the right track," said the Pro- 
prietor. "Let us analyze the prescription and see 
what kind of a gas it may have been." 

The prescription read : 

Quininae Sulph., gr. xl ; 
Pulv. Doveri, gr. xx; 
Ammon. Carbon., gr. xxx. 
Ft. caps. No. x. 
16 



242 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

" We have, first, quinine sulphate/' the Proprietor 
continued, — " a combination of the alkaloid with sul- 
phuric acid. Can any gas come from that ?" 

" I think not," said the Senior, " and I believe that 
I now understand the cause. Carbonic acid gas was 
evolved from the ammonium carbonate by the action 
of the sulphuric acid." 

" Exactly ; and what was the result ?" 

"Ammonium sulphate and quinine alkaloid." 

" Yes, sir. Some of the ammonium carbonate was 
decomposed, and the evolution of the carbonic acid gas 
caused the mass to expand ; while, at the same time, a 
little water of crystallization, set free from the quinine 
sulphate, softened it." 

After a while the Senior asked : " Would it be right, 
then, to set aside the mass, after preparing it, until the 
reaction is completed ?" 

" That would be wrong," said the Proprietor ; " for 
then we would not be dispensing what was prescribed." 

" Then I must take the prescription to the doctor," 
said the Senior, " and call his attention to the incom- 
patibility of the chemicals." 

" Not at all," was the answer ; " we will do no such 
thing. It is true, quinine sulphate and ammonium 
carbonate are commonly called incompatibles ; but 
they are not so as long as they are kept perfectly dry. 
We must, therefore, mix the drugs thoroughly, divide 
the powder into ten equal parts, and put these into so 
many capsules without first making a mass." 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 243 

" Well, I suppose I may start over again," said the 
Senior, with surly voice. " If it were my prescription, 
I would simply remove some of the mass and close the 
capsules again." 

The Proprietor thereupon put his hand on the 
clerk's arm, and, with a distinctive frown, said : " The 
only excuse for this utterance is your youth and the 
dissatisfaction with yourself, so natural after a failure 
like this ; but never express such an idea again. You 
not only show your unfitness for the pharmaceutical 
profession, but also utter an opinion the execution of 
which is criminal." 

"I did not mean to do any wrong," meekly said 
the young man. And the Proprietor answered : 

" I know ; but let me make clear to you what you 
advocated. In the first place, the physician would be 
deceived, for you would dispense less and different 
medicine than he ordered. If his diagnosis was correct, 
— and we have no reason to assume that it was not, — 
he will soon discover where the fault lies, and his pre- 
scriptions will not come here any more. Secondly, 
you would wrong the patient, undermine his confidence 
in his physician, retard his convalescence, or even be- 
come morally responsible for his death if it should be 
hastened in consequence of your action. Thirdly, you 
deceive yourself; while you imagine you are following 
an honorable profession, your carelessness becomes a 
criminal habit, and in business you will surely be a 
failure, if no worse and sadder consequences befall 



244 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

you. Substitution for gain is bad enough ; but substi- 
tution out of mere laziness, or to hide ignorance or a 
mistake in manipulation, is ten times worse. Always 
be right and do right, and shun no trouble to build up 
your reputation as an honorable, conscientious pharma- 
cist." 



CHAPTEK XVIII. 

DISPENSING IN CAPSULES — CAPSULE-FILLER — SOURCE 
OF ALOES AND ASAFETIDA — PROPERTIES OF 
PLANTS. 

The Senior, feeling the justice of his preceptor's 
moralizing remarks, made no reply, but quietly again 
weighed the ingredients of the troublesome prescrip- 
tion, and, after mixing them thoroughly, put the 
powder on a piece of paper, and, taking ten empty 
capsules No. 1, he proceeded to fill them by holding 
one after another in a horizontal position, and shoving 
the powder into it with a spatula. 

" How many grains are you putting into each cap- 
suie ?" asked the Proprietor. 

" Well, I suppose I am wrong again," ejaculated the 
Senior, after a moment's reflection, throwing down 
capsule and spatula. " You mean to say that I should 
have weighed the quantity for each capsule. But this 
is the manner in which my former preceptor filled 
capsules, and, if some was left at the end, he threw it 
away." 

" And if there was not enough of it ?" 

"There always was, for he selected capsules small 
enough to insure it." 

245 



246 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

" Learn, then, to do things right," said the Pro- 
prietor. 

The Senior looked at the prescription again, and 
said : 

"There are ninety grains for the ten capsules, or 
nine for one capsule. It is easy enough to weigh nine 
grains, but not so easy to get them into the capsule." 

"There are a number of contrivances for this pur- 
pose, as you can see in the works on pharmacy ; but 
all of them are less practical than this capsule-filler 
that I have constructed myself. It consists, as you 
see, of three pieces. 

" The first piece is a block of wood about one inch 
wide, five inches long, and a little over one inch thick. 
It has twelve perforations, which at the upper end are 
widened, like so many small funnels. The perfora- 
tions correspond exactly to the capsules No. 1, so that 
the latter can be pushed into them. In the middle of 
the block, at the upper side, a round fly-screw is fas- 
tened under an overlapping flange in such a way that 
it can easily be turned, but not removed. Besides 
these twelve perforations, there are two larger holes, 
one at each end of the block. 

" The second piece consists of a firm base, with two 
upright pins fitting in the larger holes of block No. 1. 
Then there are twelve smaller pins, concave at the 
tops, and fitting into the twelve perforations of piece 
No. 1 when this is put over it. In the middle there 
is a stationary iron rod, fastened to the base, and pro- 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 



247 



vided with a screw-thread to fit the nut of the fly- 
screw. 

Fig. 4. 



/TT\ 




" The third part of the apparatus is the plunger, a 
small stick fitting into the capsule, and having one 
concave and one convex end. 

" The modus operandi suggests itself. After puttiug 
the first two pieces together, — aud they are always 



248 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

kept in this position, ready for use, the pins just en- 
tering the perforations, — the empty, coverless capsules 
are put into the holes, into which they fit very snugly, 
and, if necessary, the convex end of the plunger is 
used to press them down, the depth of the perforations 
being such as to allow the capsules to sink just below 
the funnel-shaped opening. The proper quantity of 
the medicine is now put into the little funnel, and 
worked down with the little stick or plunger.' 7 

The Preceptor accompanied the explanation by the 
action, and continued : 

" The object of the concave end of the plunger is to 
leave a small convex elevation on the capsule, destined 
to fit into the rounded cover. After filling the cap- 
sules, we turn the nut of the fly- screw a little, thereby 
lowering the upper block, and consequently lifting the 
capsules up, as they cannot pass the pins on which 
they rest. After a few turns, when they are about 
half-way out of their envelopes, we put the covers on, 
and, by screwing a little more, throw them entirely 
out of the holes. With this little apparatus twelve 
capsules can be filled at a time, but we might just as 
well have more. The machine could also be improved 
by making it out of hard rubber, instead of wood." 

" This is an excellent contrivance/' said the Senior ; 
" but I notice one drawback." 

" And that is ?" asked the Proprietor. 

" We can use it for only one size of capsule s." 

" You are right, said his Preceptor ; " but not the 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 249 

whole machine need be made over for another size. 
You will notice that the pins are much smaller than 
the perforations, so that they will fit into two other 
blocks, where the holes are made to correspond to 
capsules Nos. 2 and 3 ; but the same base can be used 
for all. Smaller capsules we are called upon to fill so 
seldom that I have not considered them ; but where 
all sizes are ordered in considerable numbers, an appa- 
ratus for each size might be constructed without much 
expense. After filling capsules with such bitter ma- 
terial as our prescription calls for, the block should be 
detached, and the perforations cleaned by means of a 
small brush, such as is used for nursing-bottle tubes, 
in order to remove any small particles that may adhere 
to them. It is also advisable to wipe each finished 
capsule with a dry towel, and to put a little cotton in 
the box in which they are dispensed, to keep them 
from being crushed and thrown against each other, 
whereby the covers might drop off." 

"Could we not moisten the end of the capsule 
before putting the cover on ?" asked the Senior. 

" In certain cases," replied the Proprietor ; " but in 
this case all moisture should be carefully avoided, for 
reasons that I stated before." 

He took a glass bottle from the shelf, containing a 
great number of filled capsules, and, shaking them, 
without being able to loosen the cover of a single cap- 
sule, said : 

" These are five-grain quinine capsules, for which 



250 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

we have many calls. When we filled them we touched 
the interior of the covers (not the ends of the bodies 
of the capsules, as you suggested) with a moistened 
camel's-hair pencil, before putting them on, thereby 
gluing the two gelatin layers together and preventing 
the loosening of the covers. 

" But what has become of your aloes and asafetida 
pills ?" he continued, turning to the Junior, who had 
been a quiet listener to the explanations. 

" I have the ingredients here," replied the Junior, 
" all well powdered and mixed ; but I did not dare add 
any water, for fear of spoiling the prescription again." 

"Take the dropper," said the Proprietor, "and 
carefully add six drops of water, and stir." 

The Junior did as directed, and, after thoroughly 
triturating the mass, said : " This mass seems to be 
moist enough^ but it is not very adhesive." 

Hereto the Proprietor replied : " Whenever you 
make pills of asafetida or similar substances, a few 
drops of alcohol greatly increases the adhesiveness of 
the drug ; let us try it here." 

He carefully put three drops of alcohol into the 
mortar, and asked the Junior to again work the 
pestle, and in a few seconds a fine plastic mass was 
produced. In trying to roll it out he took a small 
pepper-cellar, filled it with lycopodium, and dusted the 
pill-tile, when the Proprietor interrupted. 

" Remember," said he, pointing to the prescription, 
" pulvere cinnamomi convolvendse." 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 251 

" Oh," said the Junior, " I thought that related only 
to the finished pills." 

"Why not use it now? The lycopodium would 
partly cover the pills, and afterwards prevent the cin- 
namon from adhering." 

The Junior substituted cinnamon for lycopodium, 
rolled out the mass, divided it properly, shaped the 
pills, and finally rolled them under the pill-roller, 
using a little more cinnamon powder. The pills pre- 
sented a neat, even appearance, and were uniformly 
covered with a brown coating of cinnamon. 

"Before dispensing them," said the Proprietor, "let 
us stop a few minutes and see if we can trace the 
drugs contained in these little pills to their source, and 
perhaps learn a little by the review." 

" Oh, I know," said the Junior : " aloes comes from 
Africa, asafetida from Asia." 

"Correct," replied the Proprietor; "these are the 
simple facts, as you are expected to memorize them for 
your examination. But the thinking dispenser will 
combine with them broader thoughts of a different 
nature. Here we have aloes. It grows, as you 
know, along the eastern coast of Africa, from the 
Cape northward almost to Egypt, and seems to in- 
crease in medicinal value the farther north its source, 
the most inferior quality, Cape aloes, coming from 
Cape Colony, and the best, Socotrine aloes, deriving 
its name from the island of Socotra, opposite Cape 
Guardafui, at the entrance of the Gulf of Aden. The 



252 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

gatherers are as many as there are different tribes of 
aborigines and European settlers on the coast, from the 
crude Hottentot to the more cultivated Dutch Boer 
and semicivilized Arab. The plant belongs to the 
lily order, and consists of a thick, fleshy stem, from 
one to four feet high, with a crown of sagittate or 
lanceolate leaves, whose color varies from light- to 
dark-green, with sharp spikes at the edges. The 
shape of the leaves and the size and number of the 
spikes differ according to the different species of the 
plant, of which Aloe Perryi (formerly called Aloe 
Socotrina) is the only official variety." 

" Does the whole plant yield the drug ?" asked the 
Junior. 

" No," replied the Proprietor ; " the leaves are the 
part which yield the aloes. They are broken from 
the plant, incised at the lower, thicker end, and put 
into small holes in the ground that have previously 
been lined with the skins of sheep or other animals, 
turning the smooth side upward. The juice runs out 
of the cuts in the leaves, and, when a sufficient quan- 
tity has gathered, it is inspissated, or thickened by the 
aid of heat, the best product resulting when only the 
sun is employed as the evaporating agent. As a curi- 
ous incident, I will add that a short while ago one of 
the examiners of a State Board of Pharmacy men- 
tioned that when he examined a number of candidates 
in materia medica, and happened to strike aloes as the 
subject of examination, he could recognize the students 



THE PHAEMACIST AT WORK 253 

of a certain college by the l monkey-skin' in which 
they all insisted the aloes was gathered. Farther 
inquiry disclosed the fact that at this occasion the 
professor cracked a time-honored, annual joke about 
monkeys and their skins, by which the mode of gather- 
ing aloes was remembered. Besides the African kinds, 
there is another aloes from the West Indies, where the 
plant is now cultivated, coming into the market under 
the name of Barbadoes aloes, and recognized by our 
' Pharmacopoeia. ? While this latter and the Cape aloes 
reach us directly from the gathering-places, the Soco- 
trine is chiefly handled by the Arabs, who either send 
it up the Red Sea, or convey it to India to the Parsee 
merchants and the British traders." 

" In the Indian market the aloes meets the other in- 
gredient of this prescription, asafetida. This is a bad- 
smelling substance, oozing as a milky, opaque, fetid 
juice from the root of Ferula Fetida. Have you any 
idea how the plant looks? From the root-stock, 
which is sometimes, in full-grown plants, six inches in 
diameter and more than a foot long, somewhat resem- 
bling a beet, grow numerous spreading tripartite leaves 
of a leathery appearance and light-green color. Out 
of their midst rises a stem of a luxuriant, herbaceous 
nature, sometimes as high as ten feet, carrying at the 
top a numerously branched compound umbel of yellow 
flowers, which betrays the natural order of the plant." 

" Umbelliferse," interposed the Junior. 

" Yes, sir," continued the Proprietor. "As to the 



254 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

odor, while it is so offensive to us, we are told that the 
people of Bokhara use the small plant as a green 
vegetable, as we do lettuce, and relish it. We, how- 
ever, can hardly imagine that such a disgusting plant 
should grow in the same country where the roses of 
Kashmir bloom, — the beautiful home of the lovely 
Lalla Rookh. But nature delights in such contrasts, 
as if to warn us against a too free and unrestrained in- 
dulgence in her beauty." 

" Do the natives of Persia and Afghanistan gather 
the whole roots for the gum-resin that they contain ?" 
asked the Junior. 

" No, sir ; the way they gather the drug is this : The 
root-stock, which always protrudes several inches out 
of the ground, is freed from small rootlets and leaves 
in the month of June, selecting the plants that have 
not yet borne flowers, and a slice of it is cut off. The 
wound is then covered loosely with leaves and twigs, 
to exclude the sunlight, which retards the process ; and 
it is left this way for a few weeks, at which time a thick 
reddish or brownish gummy substance is found on the 
exposed part. This exudation, a hardened suppuration 
of a vegetable wound, is removed, put into leather 
bags, and taken to Herat, the commercial centre of 
Afghanistan. The Afghan merchant knows the 'art' 
of adulteration as well as his Eastern brethren, for it 
is stated, on good authority, that hardly any asafetida 
leaves that city in a pure state, a red clay being used 
as an adulterant, which the pharmacists of Europe and 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 255 

America have to filter out when making the tincture. 
From Herat the asafetida goes to India, and is thence 
brought by the Parsee and British traders into the 
markets of the world." 

" There is one thing that often gives me food for 
thought," interrupted the Senior, who, after finishing 
his capsules, had attentively listened to the conversa- 
tion. "Here we have this drug with antispasmodic 
and expectorant properties, growing so many miles 
away from us. Why cannot the plants around us pro- 
duce a similar, or identical, effect on the human system? 
They all contain so much carbon, so much nitrogen, 
hydrogen, oxygen, calcium, and so on ; and yet they 
vary so vastly in their properties. I wonder why it 
is." 

" They differ not only in their effects on the human 
system," replied the Proprietor. " You might mention 
points of difference much nearer home. Look at their 
growth, their shapes, their beauty, their fragrance ! 
The rose of Kashmir grows in the same ground with 
the Ferula Fetida ; they drink the same dew, feed on 
the same soil, and the same golden sun ripens their 
fruits. But while the one fills the air with fragrance 
and enchants the eye, the other, like an evil spirit, 
destroys our rapture, and calls a chilly halt to our en- 
chantment. Thus the good and bad live close together, 
not only among the plants, but also among men ; and 
this close proximity of contrasts directs the differing 
thoughts of the thinker. 



256 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

"Now let us return to our pills. If your imagina- 
tion is lively enough, what a vision they will call up 
before us. There stands Ihe peaceful, but indolent, 
Hottentot from Africa, with the sheepskin over his 
shoulder, little able to compete commercially with his 
neighbor, the shrewd, energetic Boer of the Transvaal ; 
then comes the lithe, dark-eyed Arab, joining hands 
with the quiet, thoughtful Parsee merchant of India, 
who forms a connecting link between the gatherers of 
the two drugs. At his other side we see the kind- 
hearted, hospitable, Persian peasant and his athletic 
neighbor, the cruel, intriguing Afghan. Behind them, 
in the second row, stands the British trader, the sailor, 
the carrier of the treasures of the East, the wholesale 
dealer of Europe and America ; and last, but not least, 
the modest hard-working pharmacist. All these han- 
dled the drugs of these pills ; and each of them, how- 
ever remote from the other and different in civilization, 
forms a link of the chain that binds men and nations 
together, like members of one great family." 



CHAPTER XIX. 

OFFICIAL PILLS — EXCIPIENTS — CARBOLIC ACID PILLS 
— COATING OF PILLS— MASSES — READY-MADE PILLS 
AND TABLETS — CONFECTIONS — TROCHES. 

" Haying completed our journey into foreign 
lands," continued the Proprietor, " let us return to 
our work and see if we can learn something more 
about pills. Are there any official pills besides those 
of aloes and asafetida, of which we have already 
spoken, that contain aloes ?" 

" Yes, sir," replied the Senior ; "there are a number 
of official pills in which aloes is an ingredient. First, 
the pills of aloes, i Pilulse Aloes ;' then the pills of 
aloes and iron, ' Pilulse Aloes et Ferri ;' pills of aloes 
and mastic, ' Pilulse Aloes et Mastiches f and, finally, 
the pills of aloes and myrrh, ' Pilulse Aloes et 
Myrrhse.' " 

"All these pills," said the Proprietor, "have the 
laxative properties of aloes, modified by the second 
ingredient, which either diminishes the irritating influ- 
ence of the bitter African drug or adds another quality 
to it, like the iron in the case of iron and aloes pills, 
which are often used in amenorrhcea." 

" Are not the ' Lady Webster dinner pills' composed 
of aloes ?" asked the Junior. 

17 257 



258 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

"There are various formulas for these laxative pills, 
all of which resemble that of the official pills of aloes 
and mastic. Now tell me which is the best excipient 
for these pills ?" 

" According to your former instructions/ ' replied 
the Junior, " we should use soap." 

" Yes, sir ; soap is not only the best excipient for all 
resinous substances, but it also increases their solu- 
bility, and serves, therefore, a double purpose. The 
iron and aloes pills, however, contain confection of 
roses and aromatic powders, and therefore need no 
further excipient, while those of aloes and mastic and 
of aloes and myrrh in addition contain, respectively, 
red rose and aromatic powder as corrigents of griping, 
which powders also suffice to form a good pill-mass 
with water." 

"Are there any other official pills containing soap ?" 
the Proprietor further asked. 

The Senior, expecting this question, had already 
made a mental review of all official pills, and promptly 
answered: "Yes, sir: the pills of Asafetida, the pills 
of Opium, and those of Rhubarb." 

" Do not forget," added the Proprietor, " that when- 
ever you use soap as an excipient you must be very 
careful in adding water, lest the mass become soft; 
and a few drops of alcohol will often increase the 
plasticity in case of resinous ingredients. 

" Do you know of any pills in which oil is used as 
an excipient?" 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 259 

" Yes, sir," replied the Senior : " the compound anti- 
mony pills ; also called ' Plumnier's Pills/ They con- 
tain sulphurated antimony, murcurous chloride, and 
guaiac, which are made into a mass with castor oil." 

"In case of heavy metallic substances," continued 
the Proprietor, "without adhesiveness, I recommend 
and use powdered tragacanth as an excipient ; it has 
always given me the best results. The 1880 ' Phar- 
macopoeia' ordered mucilage of tragacanth also in this 
case, and I fail to see why the change has been made, 
unless it was to conform with the British formula." 

" But why should we change our ' Pharmacopoeia' for 
the sake of the British ?" asked the Junior. " I 
should think if the English use castor oil in making 
their pills, that would be a good reason for us to use 
something else." 

The Proprietor laughed, and replied : " You are 
right in so far that for the sake of conformity we 
should never imitate our neighbor. But it would be 
just as bad, if not worse, if, for the simple object of 
differing from him, we should refuse to acknowledge 
or accept whatever he possesses good and useful. To 
suppose that because a custom or usage is prevalent in 
another country we must avoid and ridicule it shows 
neither common sense nor intelligence, and would lead 
us to that condition of which the Chinese are a good 
type. Civilization and science are universal, and bind 
countries and nations together as friendship unites in- 
dividuals ; both sides are always willing to give and 



260 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

happy to receive, and it is hard to say whether a deed 
of friendship is more honorable to the donor or the 
receiver.' 7 

Turning to the Senior, he continued : " Do you 
know of any official pills in which a vegetable extract 
as one of the ingredients serves at the same time as 
excipient ?" 

" The Compound Cathartic pill/' replied the Senior, 
" containing compound extract of colocynth, calomel, 
gamboge, and extract of jalap, of which constituents 
the extracts, with the addition of some water, hold 
the mass together." 

"Vegetable extracts," said the Proprietor, "are 
probably the best excipients we have for pills made 
of dry powder." 

" Why, then, are they not prescribed in the official 
formulas?" asked the Junior. 

" For the simple reason that they possess certain 
medicinal virtues that may not harmonize with those 
of the other ingredients. W T e are therefore not to use 
them unless the physician so states on his prescription. 
In other instances their dark color is objectionable. 
Take quinine pills, for instance : we could not use 
even the most indifferent extract — that of liquorice of 
gentian — without having its presence betrayed by the 
color. Some physicians who have learned their pro- 
fession in all its phases know the value of vegetable 
extracts as excipients, and add at the end of their pre- 
scriptions some such line as this : ' Extracti Gentianse, 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 261 

q. s./ thereby not only facilitating the work of the 
pharmacist, but also increasing the tonic effect of their 
medicine by the gentian." 

The Senior, thinking he had caught his Preceptor in 
a contradiction, quickly looked through the prescrip- 
tion-files and, pointing to a prescription recently pre- 
pared, exclaimed : " Did you not tell the Manager 
when he showed you this prescription to be careful 
with the extract, and did you not say that this was a 
very ill considered order?" 

The prescription in question read : 

Quinias Sulphatis, ^i ; 

Ferri Sulph. exsicc, ^ss ; 

Strychninse Sulph., gr. ss; 

Ext. Hyoscyami, q. s. ft. pil No. xxx. 

The Proprietor smilingly answered : 

"The reason why I criticised this prescription as 
ill considered was because such a powerful extract as 
that of henbane is ordered as an excipient without 
stating the quantity of it to be used. One of the main 
principles in selecting the excipient must be its inert- 
ness ; for it can hardly be expected that two pharma- 
cists, however skilful they may be, will use the same 
quantity. Extract of hyoscyamus is not a drug that can 
be taken indiscriminately with impunity, some people 
being very susceptible to its narcotic action. I directed 
five grains to be taken in the prescription in question, 
and you see that a note was added to it indicating this 



262 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

quantity; but we used considerable syrup in addition, 
to make a good mass of the quinine and iron. Care- 
less pharmacists might just as well have used thirty 
grains, or even more , and if the prescription should 
go to different stores, different medicines might be pre- 
pared. But let us return to our official pills. Do 
you know of any in which an ethereal oil is incorpo- 
rated in the pills?" 

" Yes, sir," replied the Senior ; " there are two : the 
vegetable cathartic pills, 'Pilulse Catharticse Vege- 
tables,' and the compound rhubarb pills, ' Pilulse Rhei 
Composite.' In both cases oil of peppermint is an 
ingredient." 

" So it is," said the Proprietor ; " and in either case 
there is but little trouble in incorporating it in the 
vegetable drugs of the formula , the compound extract 
ol colocynth, in the one case, and the rhubarb and soap, 
in the other, quickly absorb and retain it. But greater 
difficulty arises when the quantity of oil or other vola- 
tile substance becomes larger and no other drugs are 
present to serve as excipients. Let me show you some 
examples." 

Turning to the prescription-files ; he soon found the 
following prescriptions : 

01. Tiglii, gtt. iii. 
Ft. pil. No. v. 

Acidi Carbolici, gtt x. 
Ft. pil. No. vi. 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 263 

Pointing to them, he said : " In each case nothing 
but the active principle is ordered, and it is left to the 
judgment of the dispenser to select the proper excipient. 
The first prescription presents little difficulty. Croton 
oil being a fixed oil, the crumb of bread offers a very 
convenient excipient, selecting such a quantity as to 
make the pills of the size of a three-grain quinine pill 
The bread absorbs the oil readily, and after some 
pressure with the pestle a plastic mass is formed. The 
second prescription is not so easy. Many and various 
excipients have been recommended ; but the difficulty 
with all of them is that the carbolic acid will, after a 
while, appear on the surface of the pill, ' sweat out of 
it/ as it is termed. Impervious coatings applied to 
prevent this are objectionable, since they are insoluble 
in the juices of the stomach and intestines, in conse- 
quence of which the pills would pass through the sys- 
tem intact. The method that I employ — and which 
seems to be as good as any, especially when the number 
of pills is small, so that they are consumed quickly — 
is this : To each drop of carbolic acid (or creosote, if 
the latter is ordered) I take a grain of powdered soap, 
and add enough powdered liquorice-root to form a mass. 
Careful observation in each case and long experience 
and clear judgment are necessary to overcome difficul- 
ties of this kind, for it is impossible to discuss all the 
formulae and combinations that a physician may select 
under general rules. 

" We will now consider two official pills in the 



264 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

manufacture of which a chemical change takes 
place." 

" I know/' said the Senior ; " they are both iron 
pills : the one of ferrous carbonate, the other of ferrous 
iodide." 

" Take the ferruginous pills first/' said the Pro- 
prietor, " and tell me what chemical change happens in 
their preparation." 

The Senior replied : " Ferrous sulphate and potas- 
sium carbonate are made to act upon each other, and 
the result is ferrous carbonate and potassium sulphate. 
Sugar, tragacanth, and marshmallow are used as ex- 
cipients." 

" Yes, sir," said the Proprietor. " The ' Pharmaco- 
poeia' directs the ferrous sulphate, in clear crystals, to be 
triturated with the sugar to a uniform powder. My 
experience is that by such a trituration a damp powder 
results, and less glycerin and water is needed than the 
official formula calls for. You know that we often 
have occasion to prepare these pills with the addition 
of aloes." 

" Here is the prescription," said the Senior. " I only 
made it yesterday." He pointed to the following : 

Potass. Carbon., 
Ferri Sulph., aa ^iiss ; 
Pulv. Aloes, gr. x. 
M. et ft pil. No. lxxx. 

" You notice a difference in this favorite prescription 
of one of our physicians, in the quantity of iron used, 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 265 

as compared with the official formula. Our prescrip- 
tion corresponds to the French preparation, 'Blaud's 
Ferruginous Pills/ in which equal quantities of iron 
sulphate and potassium are used. You also know that 
we never use any glycerin in making these pills, and 
yet have no trouble with the mass. The official name 
has not been very fortunately selected, having been 
changed from 'Pilulse Ferri Composite' of the former 
' Pharmacopoeia/ This change is likely to give rise to 
confusion, since many physicians are in the habit of 
ordering i Pilulse Ferri Carbonatis,' meaning thereby 
pills of Vallet's mass. What other official iron pills 
does the ' Pharmacopoeia' prescribe ?" 

"The pills of ferrous iodide; they are prepared from 
reduced iron and iodine made to combine in the pres- 
ence of water, after which, liquorice, sugar, extract of 
liquorice, and acacia are employed as excipients, evapo- 
rating the excess of water." 

" Does that end the process?" 

" No ; the pills are shaken with an ethereal solution 
of tolu, whereby, after the evaporation of the latter, 
they become coated with tohi." 

" What is the object of this coating ?" 

" It protects the pills against the action of the air, 
which would otherwise oxidize the ferrous iodide. For 
this same purpose there is also an excess of reduced 
iron in them." 

" Does not the tolu also protect the pills against the 
action of the gastric juice?" 



266 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

" No, sir ; tolu is soon dissolved by that fluid." 
" Is there any other official pill coated with tolu ?" 
" Yes : the last of the official pills, ' Pilulse Phos- 
phoric " 

" What care is necessary in their preparation ?" 
The Senior replied : " Phosphorus, owing to its great 
affinity for oxygen, easily combines with it ; but the 
object of the pills is to administer pure phosphorus, 
and we therefore dissolve it first in chloroform, beating 
this solution into a mass with acacia and althaea, and a 
mixture of glycerin and water. The chloroform evapo- 
rates during the operation, and the pills are afterwards 
coated with tolu in the same manner as the pills of 
iodide of iron." 

" I wonder," said the Junior, " whether there is a 
pharmacy in which these pills are made and used." 

The Proprietor answered : " Even if these identical 
pills are never ordered, their formula serves as a good 
guide in similar cases. We ourselves looked for the 
modus operandi of aloes and asafetida pills when we 
prepared our last prescription ; and there are many 
similar instances. If you should have occasion to 
make Blaud's pills with some modifications, like aloes, 
strychnine, arsenous acid, etc., all of which drugs are 
occasionally ordered with them, the directions of the 
' Pharmacopoeia' will be indispensable. Or a case 
might happen where it is necessary to coat pills with 
tolu, and the formula for the phosphorus pills will be 
your guide, even if your pills contain no phosphorus." 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 267 

" Very true," said the Senior ; " yet I believe that 
the ( Pharmacopoeia' contains many formulas, or even 
drugs, that are never used in certain localities, and 
might just as well have been omitted." 

" They might," said the Proprietor, " if the ' Phar- 
macopoeia' had been written for only one place. I 
can point out a number of articles that I have never 
used in my experience of thirty years; and the same is 
true in almost every other pharmacy, no matter how 
large it is. But the United States cover a large terri- 
tory, and the desires and wants vary greatly. I dare 
say that there are railroads on which we will never 
travel in our lives and books that we will never read, 
but that is no reason why such railroads or books 
should have no right to exist. Do not forget that 
each of us, no matter how important he may appear, 
is only like one small grain of sand, millions of which 
will, nevertheless, form mountains. There are some 
other official preparations in our ' Pharmacopoeia' 
greatly resembling pills, but introduced under the 
heading of ' Massa.' " 

" I know," said the Senior ; " there are three of 
them. First, Massa Copaibae, a mixture of Copaiba 
and Magnesia, also called Solidified Copaiba; secondly, 
Massa Ferri Carbonatis, generally called Vallet's 
Mass, after a French pharmacist who introduced the 
formula and modus operandi; and thirdly, Massa Hy- 
drargyri, commonly called Blue Mass." 



268 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

" Why are these masses not directed to be divided 
into pills ?" asked the Junior. 

"Because they are often ordered in combination 
with other ingredients, and they then form not only 
an important active part of the final product, but also 
serve as an excellent vehicle for the other ingredients. 
When required, pills can quickly be made of them." 

" Most pharmacists," replied the Junior, " keep only 
the ready-made pills, and crush as many of them as 
will conform to the prescribed quantity whenever they 
enter as parts in prescription. I think that method 
is just as good and much cleaner than weighing a 
lump of the mass." 

"Let us see how that will work," said the Pro- 
prietor. " Here is our bottle of gelatin-coated five- 
grain Blue Pills, which we keep to satisfy the wishes 
of some of our physicians. Now, suppose that we want 
to weigh eight grains of the mass, what would you do ?" 

" Why, nothing is simpler," quickly replied the 
Junior ; " I crush two pills in a mortar and weigh 
eight grains of the powder." 

"Please do so." 

The Junior did as told, and when the eight grains 
balanced the scale, he looked triumphantly at his Pre- 
ceptor. 

" So far so good," said the latter ; " now weigh what 
is left." 

The Junior did so, and his air of superiority soon 
gave way to one of doubt and disappointment. "I 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 269 

do not understand this," he said ; " there are over five 
grains left." 

" You forgot," said the Proprietor, " that the gela- 
tin with which the pills are covered weighs some- 
thing ; and, besides, we do not know if the manufac- 
turer did not make addition to the mass. To do this 
work correctly you should first have weighed the 
two pills, and calculated from that weight the number 
of grains that would correspond to the eight grains of 
pure mass. But it cannot be expected that any drug- 
gist who is lazy and indifferent, as you claim most 
of them are, would go to such trouble. This is 
another instance, so often demonstrated, that the ten- 
dency to substitute ready-made goods for preparations 
which should be made in the laboratory will necessa- 
rily lead to criminal carelessness and neglect, and not 
only give the conscientious physician an excuse or 
notion of self-dispensing, but establish a necessity to 
do so." 

" But are their tablets and pills any more reliable 
than the ones that we buy ?" asked the Senior. 

"They certainly are not; nor do I claim that all 
such goods are unreliable in themselves. But if the 
physician is compelled to order in such quantities as 
the manufacturer may prepare for him, in order to 
have at least some kind of a guarantee of correctness, 
the necessity of the pharmacist as intermediate be- 
tween him and the patient ceases to exist. Such near- 
sighted pharmacists are like foolish sailors who, for 



270 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

the sake of patching an old coat, cut up the sail of 
their craft and helplessly drift against the rocks." 

"Are not some masses, like the Copaiba mass, 
sometimes ordered to be taken in bulk without 
dividing them into pills?"' asked the Junior. 

" You are thinking of similar, more palatable, but 
much weaker preparations, the Confections, by which 
name the • Pharmacopoeia' denotes preparations in the 
form of a soft solid of a saccharine nature, serving as 
a pleasant vehicle for one or more medicinal sub- 
stances. Your friend here will give you the names of 
the two official confections." 

" Yes, sir,"' said the Senior ; " Confection of Rose 
and Confection of Senna only are now official." 

" These preparations." continued the Proprietor. 
" were formerly more numerous, and were classified as 
preserves and electuaries. They are now mostly 
superseded by Troches or Trocnisei. of which a long 
list of fifteen are official. Most of them are prepared 
with mucilage of tragacanth and sugar and various 
aromatics like vanilla, oil of sassafras, anise, winter- 
green, lenion, and others that serve to disguise the some- 
times disagreeable taste of the medicinal substance." 

'•Can we not make troches here in the laboratory?" 

" Why, certainly we could,' 5 said the Proprietor ; 
" but they are cut much neater by power-machines, in- 
vented for this purpose, and the limited demand here 
does not warrant the purchase of such a machine. I 
therefore prefer to buy them ready made.''' 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 271 

The Junior cast a significant look at his older com- 
panion, as if to say : " Now he admits doing what he 
told ns not to do." The Proprietor, however, read his 
thoughts, and smilingly continued : 

" You think you have caught me in an inconsistency, 
but I hope to be forgiven. In advocating the cultiva- 
tion of professional pharmacy, not only as a distinct 
part of our daily work, but as an imperative duty to- 
wards the public and the physicians, we must not go to 
the other extreme and reject those innovations and in- 
ventions that are a natural development of all arts and 
sciences. We would otherwise become old fogies, and 
lag behind the advancing army of civilization, like an 
old stage-coach sneaking behind an express-train. Our 
ideal must be high and noble ; but if it make us forget 
the needs and wishes of our surroundings, we will be- 
come flighty and conceited. If, therefore, a part of our 
professional work is better performed by a new industry, 
it is foolish to fight against it ; let us rather adapt our- 
selves to new conditions and turn such innovations to 
our advantage. But let us never do so out of laziness, 
nor sacrifice accuracy and ability, as you proposed to 
do. For this reason I buy troches and gelatin-coated 
pills, for the physician and public demand them ; but 
I do not guarantee them, and sell them as they are, 
the products of another firm.'" 

The conversation was here interrupted, as a number 
of customers had entered during the last words, and 
produced what in business parlance is called "a rush." 



CHAPTER XX. 

A RUSH — INFORMATION TO CUSTOMERS — ANSWERING 
QUESTIONS — QUICK AND QUIET WORK — LINIMENTS 
BASE OF LINIMENTS — OLEATES. 

On such occasions the clerks in this pharmacy did 
not run aimlessly from one part of the store to the 
other; but each one took his definite position according 
to his ability and age. The Junior went to the soda- 
water apparatus and refreshed the thirsty with cooling 
drinks ; whereas the Senior took charge of the opposite 
counter, selling the numerous small articles that are 
daily bought for home use. The Manager was seldom 
seen ; for it was his duty to attend to the prescriptions ; 
and the Proprietor kept a watchful eye over the whole 
store, helping wherever he was most needed, and 
giving explanations and advice to customers. 

Such information, imparted to customers, never took 
the form of medical advice ; under no circumstances 
would he interfere with the physician ; and every ques- 
tion of such a nature was promptly answered by the 
words, " You must consult your doctor." But hun- 
dreds of small questions are continually asked that 
may appear trivial and insignificant to the casual ob- 
server, but which are of great importance to the ques- 
tioner ; and a kind and plain answer in such cases is 
272 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 273 

one of the best advertisements for a pharmacy. This 
customer wishes to know how " Senna and Salts" should 
be prepared for administration, — whether he shall take 
it hot or cold, before or after breakfast. The next one 
desires information on the proportion of Lime Water 
and Milk for her first-born. "The doctor told me, 
but I forgot." This crying baby on her mother's arm 
has spilled some hot coffee over her chubby hand ; that 
excited woman brings her little boy, who has swal- 
lowed a penny ; or her little girl, who has tasted some 
of her father's medicine. Others show printed pre- 
scriptions, cut from sensational daily papers, intended 
to make medical advice cheap, but generally confusing 
to the layman, and often misapplied. The question 
whether " one or two teaspoon fuls of tincture of aco- 
nite" should be taken, as an instance, shows to what 
danger such indiscriminate advice may lead, and that 
there is certainly more harm than good done by such 
papers. 

But not all questions are put in good faith ; many 
are asked to elicit a predesired answer, which is in- 
tended to be used as an excuse for some mistake or as 
a motive for some rash action. Who does not know 
the man who comes with the impertinent question : "Is 
such a doctor a good doctor ?" and before a reply can 
be made he continues to tell the pharmacist a long tale 
of woe, — how the doctor treated his boy for pneumonia, 
when everybody knew he had malaria ; how he gave 
him the wrong medicine and ordered him to eat little, 

18 



274 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

when everybody could see that he was starving the 
poor fellow ; and the final question is : " Don't you 
think I should call in another doctor?" He wants to 
hear the answer : " Yes, do so f and will then tell the 
doctor that the druggist advised him to call another 
physician, because he (the first one) was treating his 
child wrongly. Thus the seed of discord between 
physician and pharmacist is often sown by a dissatis- 
fied patient ; and the same man who abuses the physi- 
cian before the pharmacist will also abuse the pharma- 
cist before the physician. 

Another customer, equally annoying but less dan- 
gerous, is the man who has made up his mind that 
he wants a certain patent medicine, and tries to coax 
the answer from the phamacist that such an article 
is the best, in order to quote him as his authority. 
In such cases let the pharmacist beware ; short, de- 
cisivelv negative or directly declining answers are the 
best, and courtesy becomes a weakness. Plentiful, 
also, are the instances when patience and self-control 
must be practised. Again and again that pitiable 
woman will appear who claims that the second bottle 
of medicine for her sick child is not the same as the 
first was, — it tastes different and it looks different, and 
her poor child cannot take it. " I am sure, doctor," 
she exclaims, "that some mistake was made. My 
God ! my child is poisoned ! What will I do if she 
dies !" 

These unfounded exclamations are made in the 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 275 

highest pitch, in the presence of a dozen customers, 
who are at once attracted, by the gestures indicating 
the despair of this excited mother, whose nerves, in 
consequence of many wakeful nights and the worry 
over the life of her child, are strained so that she sees 
the dire spectre of death lurking in every corner. It 
is a difficult task to convince her that her child has 
been worn out by this incessant urging to take the 
bitter medicine or by senseless promises never kept ; or, 
in the beginning, when the little patient was weak 
and powerless, she took to it without resistance ; but 
now, at the first sign of convalescence, her sense of 
opposition returns, she objects to everything disagree- 
able, is allowed to eat candy, and the lingering sweet- 
ness on the tongue renders the medicine more dis- 
tasteful. 

While this nervous mother is still clamoring, the 
customer who is always in a hurry rushes in, pushes 
his way through the store, and addresses the Proprie- 
tor in a commanding tone : " Hurry up ; here is a pre- 
scription ! Put it up at once ; it is of the greatest 
importance !" And the directions probably read ; " To 
be taken at night !" Meanwhile, a jolly company of 
young people have taken possession of the soda-water 
counter, and, after listening to some jokes, burst out 
in boisterous laughter, forming a discordant contrast 
to the weeping mother and heightening if possible her 
nervous excitement. 

In such moments the pharmacist may be likened to 



276 THE PHARMACIST AT WOKK 

the captain whose small craft has suddenly been 
seized, he does not know how, by rushing rapids ; 
for a moment he thinks he cannot resist the confusion 
around him and that all is lost, but his sense of duty, 
his consciousness that he can find a way out of the 
danger, give him strength and self-reliance. Patience, 
self-control, and presence of mind are his allies that 
help him through the eddies. 

A great help in meeting the extra demands of a 
" rush" in this store was the ease and quickness with 
which every customer could be waited on. The Pro- 
prietor considered despatch and promptness among 
the main requirements of a skilled pharmacist; and 
everything in the pharmacy was arranged for this 
purpose. Bottles and jars on the shelves were in 
strict alphabetical order, — the liquids apart from the 
solids ; the drawers and closets behind and under the 
counter were always well filled, and each article, of 
whatever size or quality, had its fixed place, and was 
always found in that place. After waiting on one 
customer, bottles, boxes, or packages were returned to 
their allotted places before the next customer was ap- 
proached, unless they had been brought in from the 
cellar or laboratory, in which case they were tempo- 
rarily placed on a table in the rear until after the 
" rush." " Hunting" for an article was consequently 
unknown, and the Proprietor used to say that a good 
pharmacist must be able to find every bottle, drawer, 
and article in the dark. 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 277 

In order to further expedite business, all goods in 
daily demand were kept put up in such quantities as 
were generally demanded, properly labelled, and ar- 
ranged in a number of drawers and closets behind the 
counter. The dull hours in the afternoon were mostly 
employed for such work of preparation, and an idle 
moment was an unknown quantity in this pharmacy. 
" A pharmacist," said the owner, " who has not some 
work for every minute of the whole day — whether 
there be customers or none — does not understand his 
business. We are never 'done;' our profession is a 
progressive one, and the chances for improving some- 
thing never cease." 

While the whole force of the pharmacy were thus 
waiting on their patrons, a customer, evidently a 
laborer, suddenly pushed his way through the crowd, 
and, holding up a prescription, exclaimed, in great ex- 
citement : " Give me this at once ! My boy fell against 
a red-hot stove. Hurry up, or he will die !" 

The Proprietor took the prescription, excused him- 
self in a few words to the customer with whom he 
was talking, went to the small desk near the prescrip- 
tion-counter and at once wrote the directions. He 
then took a filled pint bottle out of a closet, substi- 
tuted the written label with the directions for the 
label on it, and wrapped it in paper. All this was 
done in a quick but quiet way, without the least sign 
of haste, rubbing or pushing against no one, yet 
making no unnecessary or useless motion. In less 



278 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

than two minutes the bottle was handed to the cus- 
tomer. 

" Put the bottle in warm water," he said, " if the 
liniment should thicken before you reach your home." 

The customer thanked him profusely and rushed out. 

" Is it anything serious ?" asked the lady on whom 
the Proprietor had waited last. 

" It is hard to say," replied the Proprietor. " A 
child was burned, the doctor ordered a liniment, the 
father is excited over the suffering of his boy, and I 
consider it my duty in such cases to postpone every 
other business and speedily prepare the prescription. 
I trust you were not offended by this delay." 

" Not at all," replied the customer ; " I rather felt 
pleased at the way in which you treated the poor man. 
I remember that I once entered a pharmacy where the 
Proprietor was talking with a friend, evidently a trav- 
elling salesman. He paid no attention to me at all ; 
but, as I was not in any particular hurry, I did not 
mind it. After a while a little girl came in and handed 
him a prescription. Instead of preparing it at once, 
he continued to laugh and chat, and when the child 
timidly approached him with the words, ' Please, 
sir, ma is very sick ; wouldn't you give me the medi- 
cine?' he gruffly turned to her, saying, 'Sit down 
and wait until it is done.' He then continued his 
unimportant conversation for several minutes. I felt 
highly provoked, and resolved never to trust that man 
with a prescription." 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 279 

After the rush was over and every bottle and pack- 
age had been returned to its allotted place, the Senior, 
who was in a criticising mood, pointed to the pre- 
scription that the Proprietor had prepared so quickly, 
and said : 

u I guess that you overlooked that the doctor ordered 
only twelve ounces of liniment, when you dispensed a 
pint." 

" I was fully aware of it," replied the Proprietor. 

" But have you not often told us that we should 
never alter a prescription?" 

" So I have ; nor did I alter anything in this case. 
Let us look at the facts. The prescription calls for 
Linimentum Terebinthinse, or Turpentine Liniment. 
There is only a limited demand for this preparation, 
but whenever it is wanted, it is wanted quickly, as an 
application to burns and scalds. Being a mixture of 
resin cerate and oil of turpentine, it cannot be pre- 
pared extemporaneously without the loss of some very 
valuable time; and on account of its tendency to 
solidify in a moderately cool atmosphere, it is even im- 
possible to pour it from one bottle into another without 
warming it first. We therefore keep it in eight- and 
sixteen-ounce bottles, ready to be dispensed without the 
least delay. The increase of the quantity from twelve 
to sixteen ounces was done for no other motive than to 
relieve the suffering of the patient and the anxiety of 
the father as quickly as possible, and no harm can be 
done by such action. If, however, the order had been 



280 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

for some medicine for internal use, we would not be 
allowed to increase or decrease the quantity, because 
often the physician wishes a certain number of doses 
to be taken, and writes his prescription accordingly. 

" Let ns take advantage of this opportunity and 
shortly discuss the various official liniments. Begin- 
ning with the Turpentine Liniment, of which we have 
just spoken, it leads us to those liniments that contain 
a fatty or oily substance in their bases; which are 
they?" 

" I think I can tell you/' said the Senior. " There 
is, first, Ammonium Liniment, or Volatile Liniment ; 
secondly, Lime Liniment, Linimentum Calcis, com- 
monly called Carron Oil, after the Carron Iron- Works 
in Scotland, where it was the standard remedy for 
burns ; and Camphor Liniment, or Camphorated Oil. 
These three have cotton-seed oil as a base." 

" There is another liniment with a fixed oil," said 
the Proprietor, " although it serves only to give con- 
sistence." When no one answered, he continued : " I 
refer to Compound Mustard Liniment, Linimentum 
Sinapis, consisting of volatile oil of mustard, fluid ex- 
tract of mezereum, camphor, and alcohol, to which 
fifteen per cent, of castor oil is added. This oil was 
probably selected on account of its miscibility with 
alcohol. Mustard Liniment, therefore, forms a con- 
necting link between the oily and the alcoholic lini- 
ments." 

" I know the latter," said the Senior, anticipating 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 281 

the question ; " they are Linimentum Saponis Mollis, 
formerly called tincture of soap ; Linimentum Saponis, 
the ordinary Soap Liniment, sometimes called Liquid 
Opodeldoc ; and Chloroform Liniment, being a solu- 
tion of thirty per cent, of Chloroform in soap lini- 
ment." 

"You omitted one liniment made from a fluid 
extract," said the Proprietor, "namely, Linimentum 
Belladonna?, being a solution of camphor in the fluid 
extract of the root." 

" Should not the oleates be classified among the lini- 
ments ?" asked the Senior. 

" The oleates," replied the Proprietor, " are a sepa- 
rate class of pharmaceutical preparations, consisting of 
a compound of oleic acid with alkaloids or the oxides 
of metals, generally dissolved in a great excess of the 
acid. As far as their medicinal properties are con- 
cerned, they correspond to ointments, and are preferred 
by many practitioners on account of their greater clean- 
liness and elegance. There are a great number of ole- 
ates in the market, but only three — those of Mercury, 
Zinc, and Veratrine — are official. They are supposed 
to be thick liquids, but they often solidify on account 
of the presence of palmitic and stearic acids in the 
oleic acid. But do not forget your duty," he added, 
turning to the Junior, who had stopped in his work to 
listen to the conversation, holding a number of cards 
of the size of a small letter- sheet in his hand. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

PRESCRIPTION-FILES — RECORD OF BUSINESS — CONFI- 
DENCE — DOCTORS AND CUSTOMERS. 

The cards that the Junior was about to arrange 
were part of the prescription -files, which differed con- 
siderably from those found in most pharmacies. Each 
prescription, when received, was at once pasted on a 
card, eight by ten inches in size, ruled in the manner 
shown on page 283. 

The large space to the left was intended for the 
prescription. Should the latter be too large for the 
space, it was folded over and then pasted to the card. 
When the customer wished to retain the prescription, 
it was copied on the card by one clerk, stamped with a 
rubber stamp, reading : 

Prescription No 

Copied from original 

ty 

Checked by 

Date 

and the various blank lines filled in by two different 
pharmacists, as indicated. Every prescription-card was 
provided with a running number, appearing at the head 
of the card and twice again at the bottom on two small 
slips which could easily be removed from the main 
282 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 



283 



card on account of the perforated lines. The slip to 
the right was handed to the customer as a check for his 



Fig. 5. 



13570 






13570 




-■ 


(Time Stamp) 
Prepared hy 




Approved hv 




For 


Price 


Remarks. 




13570 


Price 


13570 Present this 


For 


check, when calling for 






your medicine. 



13570 


Record of Renewals : 






Date 


New No. 


Bate 


New No. 


Date 


New No. 















prescription, to be returned when the latter was deliv- 
ered, either in the pharmacy or at the customer's resi- 
dence by a messenger ; the other slip was attached to 



284 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

the finished prescription, after having been wrapped, 
and served as an identification. The blank space under 
the running number of the main card was filled by a 
time-stamp, giving the year, day, hour, and minute 
when the prescription was presented. Under the stamp 
the two dispensers would write their names, first, the 
one who prepared, and then the one who checked the 
prescription. The next entries were the price and the 
customer's name. Finally, a space was left for remarks, 
in case some special difficulty presented itself. Here, 
also, the kind and quantity of excipient for pills or 
capsules was entered, the number of the capsule used, 
and other particulars worthy of being remembered. 
Finally, a second time-stamp was put on the card, 
showing the minute when the prescription was fin- 
ished and ready to be delivered. In case of a re- 
newal, the large blank space received the entry : Re- 
newal of No. — ; and a corresponding entry was 
made on the back of the original card, which was 
ruled for this purpose. For instance, the original 
would be No. 3125, and the renewal 4376. The entry 
on 4376 would be, Renewal of 3125, all other entries 
to the left being the same as before. Card 3125, which 
had to be taken out of the cabinet, would receive the 
entry on the back: Renewed February 12, '97, No. 
4376. In this way a full record of the whole history 
of each prescription was kept, and a mistake rendered 
almost impossible. The cards were arranged in drawers 
of corresponding size, eight inches high and ten inches 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 285 

wide and almost two feet deep, each drawer holding 
two thousand cards. Index cards, put at distances of 
each fifty, facilitated the finding of any one particular 
prescription. As the prescriptions in this pharmacy 
had passed the number two hundred thousand, there 
were more than one hundred drawers filled with such 
prescriptions, all neatly and orderly arranged in a 
large cabinet, — or, rather, a number of cabinets, as 
new sections had been added from time to time, as 
necessity required. 

The work in which the Junior had been interrupted 
consisted in returning a number of cards that had 
been used for renewals to their allotted places, and 
also putting new cards into the last drawer. 

" In my former position," he said, giving his voice 
a slight tinge of blame, " not so much fuss was made 
with the prescriptions ; they were simply strung on a 
long wire." 

" You mean," said the Proprietor, " they were kept 
carelessly and considered of little importance." 

"Well yes, if you choose to put it so," was the 
reply ; " but then there were not so many." 

" Perhaps the carelessness with which the prescrip- 
tions were treated accounted for the small number," 
said the Proprietor. 

" Well, that may be ; but allow me to make another 
remark, without wishing to criticise your actions. I 
sometimes think that a great deal of fuss and un- 
necessary ado are made here about small matters. 



286 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

Why is it necessary to keep these records, some of 
which are thirty years old, with such exquisite care? 
Their contents are forgotten and useless, and the pre- 
scriptions contained in them are never renewed. The 
sick children of thirty years ago are now grown per- 
sons, and the adult people who needed medicine then 
are probably all dead. And yet the prescriptions are 
kept with the greatest care — almost with reverence ; 
dusted every morning, and each little defect that age 
or long wear may have produced is carefully repaired 
or concealed. I will not say that they should be 
thrown out, but they would do just as much good in a 
dark corner of the cellar." 

" You talk like a boy," answered the Proprietor, in 
a quiet but earnest way ; " and your frank but unripe 
criticism of my actions betrays your youth and lack 
of experience. But I will overlook the stinging 
offence that words like yours in emanating from other 
lips would give me, and in your own interest tell you 
something about these cases, with their rows of silent 
preachers, whose teachings and warnings are compre- 
hensible only to those who have a higher conception 
of their profession than the ordinary pharmacist, and 
consider pharmacy their beloved friend. 

" In the first place, those cards are a good record — 
perhaps the best — of the growth of our business. 
Look at the first day, three prescriptions ; the second, 
three; the fourth, four; and so on. These figures 
recall to me the days when I made the first ven- 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 287 

ture in business myself. In an instant I live again 
through the hopes and fears that filled my heart thirty 
years ago. I recall the joy that this first prescrip- 
tion awakened in my mind. I read it over and 
over, as I did then ; I feel again the responsibility 
of my profession, as I did then. Do you know that 
when I compounded this mixture thirty years ago I 
became aware for the first time that I not only mixed 
some tinctures and dissolved some salts, but that I 
was laying the first foundation-stone of my reputa- 
tion ; that to erect a strong and beautiful building each 
stone should be examined, for as a powerful structure 
is only as strong as its weakest part, so a reputation 
for ability and efficiency will never cover the blame of 
one mistake. It was then that I resolved that the 
love and care with which this first prescription was 
treated should never leave me ; that should I be 
destined ever to own or control a larger business than 
the small store in which I commenced, each prescrip- 
tion, yea, each bottle, each box or drawer, should be 
treated with equal feeling, as a friend would treat his 
friend. Do not think that the rise of my business — 
from the small beginning, when I considered the daily 
sales, amounting to but a few dollars, an ample reward 
for my labor and effort, to the present comfortable state 
— has taken place without worry and trouble ; but, be- 
lieve me, that often — when I felt like despairing of 
success, when I saw how my good intentions were 
being misunderstood, how my ideal was being scorned 



288 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

and laughed at — did I take down and look at these 
first prescriptions and renew the vow. You may say 
that such a sentimentality betrays a soft heart, unfit to 
grapple with the stern reality of business life. To 
some extent you may be right ; but I claim that the 
pharmacist who has neither heart nor soul — only 
brains — may turn out to be a successful merchant, but 
he will never be an ideal pharmacist. However, I 
will speak of this some other time. 

" Now take the second drawer, started almost two 
years later. The number of prescriptions of each day 
has increased to ten or twelve. This shows an ad- 
vance. The time had come when the question of an 
assistant arose. Till then I had done everything 
myself, — sweeping, cleaning, dusting, washing win- 
dows, laboratory work (what little there was), and 
assaying, being at the post of duty morning and even- 
ing, day and night. Now the first assistant came, 
and with him new hope and prospects, but also new 
care and worry. Then look farther on, and you will 
see a slow but progressive increase." 

"Well," interrupted the Junior, "no wonder; the 
city has grown in population and, consequently, in 
business." 

" But the number of stores has also increased," re- 
plied the Proprietor ; " three of my former assistants 
have settled in my neighborhood, and other men have 
come from outside, so that the number of inhabitants 
to each pharmacy is not greater now than it was thirty 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 289 

years ago. But the financial result is the least that 
the prescription-file might show ; it is rather the in- 
creased confidence of the physicians and the public in 
our pharmacy that forms the pleasing element in the 
larger prescription trade. There are many families 
here now whose parents were sent here when they 
were children, and who will not deal anywhere else. 
But there are many other features about these cards 
that are worth knowing. 

" Look again over the prescriptions from the begin- 
ning. How the doctors have changed ! Here, thirty 
years ago, the doctor from whom I received my first 
prescription was a man in the height of reputation ; 
his income was large, and his practice probably the 
best in the city. Watch his writing as I turn the 
cards. The firm lines gradually become indistinct 
and illegible ; eventually it is really impossible to de- 
cipher his scribbling, and only our knowledge of his 
customary orders enabled us finally to fill them. 
Here is his last one, a mystery to every one here but 
myself. He died an iguoble death, a victim of alco- 
hol. Now take this man's prescriptions. You know 
he is considered one of our best physicians, and there 
are many families here of high intelligence who would 
rather die than call another man to their bedsides ; 
and yet we know from his prescriptions that all his re- 
sources are about twelve drugs, and about as many 
prescriptions, written with many grammatical errors, 
one of which prescriptions he makes to fit each case." 

19 



290- THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

" Perhaps the smallness of his stock is the secret of 
his success/' said the Senior, ironically. 

" His life and success show how pleasant manners 
and the art of discretion are a power that will some- 
times outwit science and knowledge. Then take this 
man. His prescriptions show the earnest and conscien- 
tious student ; in his endeavors to do the best for his 
patients he will sit up a whole night, worrying and 
studying over a case, and hunt through all the litera- 
ture he can find on the disease in question, and his pre- 
scriptions are a true mirror of his interest in his pa- 
tients. You know how often he will stop here and 
discuss with us the properties of new drugs, or the 
result of any great scientist's investigation." 

" It never struck me that there was so much to dis- 
cover in these prescription-files," said the Junior. 

" Nor is this all," continued the Proprietor. " We 
have traced our own record and that of our physicians. 
Now let us see if these pages do not tell us something 
also about our customers. I will not speak of all the 
friends and neighbors who have passed away during 
the last thirty years, and whose last potion I prepared. 
To you they would be nothing but names. But as I 
look over these cards, I see more than simple orders 
for medicine. Between the lines appear the faces of 
old and young friends, men and women whom I knew, 
who once stood in this pharmacy, and who were as 
dear to me as I was to them. This sheet recalls to me 
the bright, lovely face of a promising young woman, 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 291 

living in luxury, who was the pride and hope of her 
parents. I still hear her consumptive cough, as I 
heard it when I saw her last ; and the echo comes 
back from the next prescription, a similar one, ordered 
for a poor young man who, in the struggle to provide 
for his sickly parents and large family, contracted the 
same disease. Thus we are reminded that sickness 
and death are the greatest levellers of all earthly dis- 
tinction and privilege, sparing neither youth, beauty, 
nor wealth." 

" A rather sad contemplation," said the Senior, " to 
think that we should make a living out of the misery 
of others." 

" It would be so," said the Proprietor, " if it Avere 
the only thought that we could find in our profession. 
But consider also that the health, often the lives, of 
such patients rest in our hands ; that the little scale on 
which we weigh the potent drug may, according as we 
are accurate or careless, determine whether the patient 
shall suffer or be relieved : consider that by a faithful 
and conscientious performance of our duty we send a 
ray of hope, a lease for a new life, into the sick-room ; 
and then tell me if there is not also a bright side in 
such a contemplation !" 

" Why, certainly there is," replied the young man ; 
" and it teaches us to be careful and accurate." 

"That is the right way to close such a reflection," 
-said the Proprietor ; " it teaches us accuracy and fills 
us with love and devotion for our profession." 



CHAPTER XXII. 

SALVES — SKILFUL MANIPULATION — CERATES— OINT- 
MENTS — DIFFICULT OINTMENT PRESCRIPTIONS — 
OINTMENT FILLER — BENZOINATED LARD. 

" If there is any particular part of our work that I 
like less than the other, it is the making of salves and 
ointments." With these words, the Senior checked off 
a number of drugs that he had weighed out and put in 
a row before him, — namely, three hundred and fifty 
grammes of rosin, one hundred and fifty of yellow 
wax, and five hundred of lard, which ingredients form 
Ceratum Resinse, commonly called Basilicon Ointment. 

"What is there disagreeable about their prepara- 
tion ?" asked the Proprietor. 

" Almost everything, from beginning to end," was 
the reply. " The weighing of wax, lard, and oils, the 
great chances of soiling your clothes, the unpleasant 
feeling of fat on the hands, the pungent odor of the 
boiling fat, the difficulty of cleaning the various imple- 
ments afterwards, — I do not think there is anything 
more disagreeable than all this." 

" Your lack of practical experience in this line of 
preparations," replied the Proprietor, " makes you dis- 
like your work. Beginners are apt to charge errors 
in manipulation to the preparations, and instead of 
292 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 293 

looking to themselves for improvement, abuse the inno- 
cent object of their lack of skill. Proceed/ 7 

The Senior put the other ingredients into a large, 
flat, porcelain-lined iron dish, put the latter on the gas- 
stove, and lighted the gas at full blast. 

" Now read the directions of the ' Pharmacopoeia/ " 
said the Proprietor, turning oif the gas. 

" Melt them at a moderate heat " 

" Moderate ! Was that a moderate heat ? The 
large flame that you lighted is apt to melt the lard 
and bring it to a boiling-point before the rosin is 
liquefied, and this lack of judgment on your part 
produces one of the objectionable features, the pun- 
gent odor. Now try the operation with a sand- 
bath." 

The Senior did so, and the lard, wax, and rosin 
were soon liquefied without emitting any perceptible 
odor. 

" Rosin is never free from impurities," said the 
Proprietor, " and it is therefore necessary to strain the 
mixture through muslin." He then spread a piece of 
muslin over a jar and gently pressed the middle of it 
down to the bottom of the jar, after which the lique- 
fied cerate was slowly poured into it. Taking the 
four ends of the muslin together, he lifted it out of 
the jar, so slowly, however, that the salve had time to 
pass through it. The muslin he then put into the iron 
dish. " You see there is but one dish to clean," he 
said to the Senior, " and neither my hands nor my 



294 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

clothes have beeu stained. To avoid separation you 
must stir the cerate until cool. Take this glass rod." 
While the Senior stirred the ointment, the Proprietor 
continued : 

" Do you know how many cerates are official ?" 

" Yes, I know ; there are six besides the one that we 
are making. They are Simple Cerate, Ceratum, a 
mixture of white wax and lard ; then Ceratum Cam- 
phorse, made with camphor liniment ; Ceratum Cetacei, 
or sperm cerate ; Ceratum Cantharadis, made of Span- 
ish flies, yellow wax, resin, lard, and oil of turpentine ; 
and, finally, Ceratum Plumbi Subacetatis, or Goulard's 
Cerate, being a mixture of solution of lead and sub- 
acetate and camphor cerate. It should be freshly pre- 
pared when wanted." 

" What is the difference between cerates and oint- 
ments?" asked the Proprietor. 

" Cerates," said the Senior, " are named after one of 
the principal ingredients, ' cera/ wax, and are of such 
a consistence that they may be spread upon cloth, 
while the ointments are softer, and are applied directly 
to the skin by inunction. Nearly all of the ointments 
contain lard, either plain or benzoinated, and a num- 
ber of them are simply a mechanical mixture of this 
vehicle, with some medicament, like powdered Gall, 
Taunic Acid, Carbolic Acid, Extract of Belladonna, 
Extract of Stramonium, Iodoform, Sulphur, Yeratrine, 
Zinc Oxide, and others. A few are made by fusion, 
like Unguentum Aquse Rosse, or Cold Cream, Un- 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 295 

guentum Diachylon, and Unguentum Picis Liquidse, 
or Tar Ointment." 

u Which metal enters into the greatest number of 
ointments ?" asked the Proprietor. 

" Mercury," was the reply ; " we have the Unguen- 
tum Hydrargyria or Blue Ointment, and that of Am- 
moniated Mercury, Nitrate of Mercury, and the red 
and yellow Oxides of Mercury." 

Meanwhile, the Resin Cerate had sufficiently cooled 
to allow the glass rod to be withdrawn, and the Pro- 
prietor invited the Senior into the pharmacy, where he 
showed him a prescription. It read : 

Extr. Stramonii, gii; 
Ac. Tannici, gi ; 
Pulv. Opii, ^ss ; 
Acidi Carbolic! , gtt x ; 
TJnguenti, q. s. ad ^ii. 
Fiat unguentum. 

" How would you prepare it ?" 

"I would mix the first four ingredients and then 
incorporate them with the ointment." 

" If we had more time," replied his Preceptor, " I 
would let you try it, and you would discover that an 
unwieldy, sticky mass, resembling a soft resin, would 
be the result, not adapted to be mixed with the oint- 
ment. To prevent the different ingredients from re- 
acting on each other, each one should be incorporated 
separately with a small quantity of ointment, and, 
finally, the various parts be mixed." 



296 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

He proceeded to weigh the Stramonium Extract, 
Tannic Acid, Powdered Opium, and ointment, the 
quantity of which was first calculated, putting each 
article before him on a large pill-tile, together with a 
small bottle of Carbolic Acid. 

" Now prepare this salve," he said to his assistant, 
" beginning with the Carbolic Acid, which on account 
of the prescribed ten drops, I did not weigh." 

The Senior quickly seized an iron spatula, and, cut- 
ting off a part of the ointment, flattened it on the slab 
and dropped ten drops of the Carbolic Acid on it. 
This was dexterously done by holding the small bottle 
in the hollow of the hand with the thumb and the two 
last fingers and putting the digit and middle fingers 
around the glass stopper; then bringing the bottle 
into a horizontal position, the stopper was carefully 
loosened, thereby having perfect control over the 
liquid so that the required number of drops could 
easily be counted. 

" That was well done," said the Proprietor ; " but 
put aside the iron spatula. The carbolic acid, and, 
more still, the tannic acid would react with the iron 
and blacken the spatula. For this and similar prepa- 
rations we have the horn spatula." 

The Senior changed his spatula as directed and thor- 
oughly incorporated the carbolic acid with some of the 
ointment, leaving the completed mixture at one side. 
The next step was to scrape the extract of stramonium 
off the small piece of paper on which it was weighed ; 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 297 

but before his intention to take more ointment was 
executed the Proprietor again stopped him. 

" You notice," he said, " that this extract is rather 
hard, and you could never make a homogeneous mix- 
ture of it in this way with ointment. Eemember your 
' Pharmacopoeia,' and do not forget that in many in- 
stances the directions given for an official preparation 
may serve us as a guide in similar cases. The direc- 
tions for the official ointment of Stramonium begin 
with the words, 'Rub the extract with the diluted 
alcohol until it is uniformly soft/ The quantity of 
diluted alcohol is half that of the extract ; let us there- 
fore adopt the same method." 

" According to that we need one drachm of diluted 
alcohol for our prescription," said the Senior, measur- 
ing the liquid and dropping it gradually on the extract, 
working it at the same time with the spatula. The 
uniformly soft mass thus obtained was then easily 
mixed with a second part of the ointment, forming a 
perfectly homogeneous green salve. 

" As to the tannic acid," said the Proprietor, " it is 
sometimes necessary to powder it finely in a mortar in 
order to remove small lumps that are occasionally pres- 
ent. In our case it is a perfect powder, and you can 
at once take the powdered opium with it, as the two 
drugs are not incompatible." 

The Senior, having profited by former experience, 
very skilfully handled the fine powder of the two 
drugs, incorporating only a very little at a time, and 



298 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

turning his spatula slowly and carefully, so that a sud- 
den pressure on the midst of the powder, or even the 
draft caused by a quick motion, might not blow the 
powder over the slab and counter. 

" The last step is to mix the three parts of our pre- 
scription," said the Proprietor, " which can now be 
done without impairing the qualities of the ingredi- 
ents. Let me add a word about dispensing salves. 
Always use a jar with a rounded bottom, so that the 
buyer can easily remove the last particles, and let there 
be no projecting shoulder, under which some of the 
salve might be caught. Paste the label on the body of 
the glass, and let it not be soiled by fat or oil. If your 
hands have become greasy in the manipulation, wash 
them before you write or paste the label, and dispense 
in this, as in all other cases, only a perfect article." 

" I put the bottles on the table/' interrupted a voice 
from the laboratory. These words emanated from the 
small boy who had just cleaned and drained a number 
of wide-mouthed, round, two-ounce bottles, commonly 
called vaseline bottles, which should be filled that day 
with petrolatum. 

The Proprietor returned to the laboratory, where the 
Junior was already waiting for him, standing near a 
barrel of the petrolatum extract. 

" How shall I fill the bottles ?" he asked. " In my 
former position we used to melt it in an old coffee- 
pot and pour it out; but I see no coffee-pot around 
here." 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 



299 



Before giving the proper directions, the Proprietor 
asked : " Was that a satisfactory way ?" 

" W T ell, sometimes ; but we had to watch the pot 
very closely. If the heat became too great, bad-smell- 
ing odors would fill the store, and if we turned it 
off for a while, the petrolatum would get hard again. 
Sometimes the spout of the pot would get stopped up, 
or some would be spilled if the pot was not with- 
drawn very skilfully. So there generally was a good 
deal of growling and scolding connected with the work, 
and nobody cared particularly to do it." 

"Now all this trouble is avoided by this simple 
apparatus," said the Proprietor, taking an ointment 

Fig. 6. 




kettle of peculiar construction from a shelf. " You see 
there are two tin pails, the one smaller than the other. 
The smaller is fastened inside of the larger one by 
brackets, so that there is a space of about an inch all 
around it, — at the side, as well as at the bottom. An 
outlet-tube is attached to the lower part of the inner pail, 



300 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

coming out at the side of the outer pail, and ending in 
a narrow outlet, which can be closed with a stop-cock. 
The modus operandi is simple enough. We put the 
petrolatum into the inner pail and water in the outer 
one, forming an ordinary water-bath. By heating the 
water, the petrolatum will soon melt and can be drawn 
out of the outlet without disturbing the apparatus. 
There is no possibility of spilling or burning, as the 
heat conveyed to the petrolatum can never exceed 212°. 
In a store where one man has to do all the work, he 
can safely leave the apparatus without fear of spoiling 
anything, and when the petrolatum is once liquid, it 
it will congeal only after a long while, because the 
surrounding hot water will keep it in that state for a 
considerable time." 

He accompanied his explanation by the actions, and 
the petrolatum soon liquefied. The gas-stove on which 
the apparatus stood was high enough to allow the re- 
ceiving bottles to be placed under the outlet, and the 
Junior was filling them quickly. 

" This takes only one-tenth the trouble and time," 
he said. " I wonder why other pharmacists do not get 
a similar kettle." 

" The use of this kettle is manifold," said the Pro- 
prietor. " If you should wish to fill small tin boxes, 
instead of bottles, the best plan is to put the apparatus, 
after the salve has liquefied, on a small block in the 
middle of the table and the tin boxes around it. In- 
stead of lifting the boxes, which on account of the 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 301 

heat transferred from the salve to the metal can be 
done only with difficulty, you move the outlet of the 
kettle from one box to the other, and can thus fill them 
with the same ease as the bottles." 

"Could we not also use this apparatus for other 
purposes ?" asked the Junior. 

" Certainly we could," answered his Preceptor. " I 
use it regularly to make benzoinated lard in, by sus- 
pending the benzoin in the lard. However, instead 
of taking the gum, I pour a corresponding quantity of 
a concentrated alcoholic solution of benzoin on a num- 
ber of small, clean pebbles, which I then expose to the 
sun or artificial heat until the alcohol has evaporated. 
The benzoin will now adhere in a thin layer to the 
pebbles, and by suspending them in the lard a cleaner 
solution is made in a much shorter time than by the 
official process, on account of the greater surface that 
the gum presents to the solvent. Simple ointment and 
simple cerate, as well as many other salves, are also 
quickly and easily made with the aid of this apparatus, 
and it also suggested to me an improved method of 
making zinc salve. Instead of sifting the oxide on 
melted, benzoinated lard, I rub it in a large mortar 
until it is very fine, and let the liquefied lard run out of 
the small orifice of this kettle into the mortar, stirring 
constantly. This method is less troublesome than the 
official one, and produces a much finer ointment." 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

WANT-BOOK — MODIFIED FORMULA — ALLIGATION — 
GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION — DESPONDENT CUSTOM- 
ERS. 

Meanwhile, the Manager had looked through the 
" Want-book," a small memorandum-book that was 
always hanging at the side of the desk, easily accessible 
to every operator in the pharmacy, and in which every 
article that was wanting, or nearly wanting, was entered. 
Twice a week, on the days when the travelling salesmen 
of wholesale houses were expected, the Manager com- 
piled his order by consulting this book. 

" Our powdered orris root," he addressed the Pro- 
prietor, " has become somewhat lumpy. We had better 
use it for tooth-powder, which is nearly out, and fill 
our stock bottle with a new lot." 

" How much is there of it ?" asked the Proprie- 
tor. 

" About a pound and a half. I have written the 
formula for the tooth-powder, so as to use all the orris 
root, and the Junior may prepare it in the course of 
the day." 

The Junior looked at the modified formula and com- 
pared it with the original one, saying : " I would like 
to ask you the question how such calculations are 
302 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 303 

made when a certain quantity or percentage of an 
article is prescribed in a mixture and we wish to use a 
different quantity of one of the ingredients. For in- 
stance, the other day I added by mistake two hundred 
cubic centimetres of water to eighteen hundred cubic 
centimetres of alcohol ; and the Manager, whom I 
asked for advice, said he could use it in making com- 
pound tincture of cinchona, for which he needed three 
thousand seven hundred cubic centimetres of a mixture 
of alcohol and water in proportion of eight hundred 
and fifty to seventy-five. I remember these figures, 
because I tried to figure out for myself how to proceed ; 
but I cannot do it.' 7 As he said this, he drew a piece 
of paper from his pocket, covered with figures, and put 
it on the counter. 

" I can hardly see," said the Proprietor, " where the 
difficulty should lie ; you are required to prepare three 
thousand seven hundred cubic centimetres of a mixture 
of eight hundred and fifty parts of alcohol and seventy- 
five of water. Find, first, how much alcohol this mix- 
ture will contain." 

The Junior seemed still in doubt, whereupon the 
Proprietor continued : 

" What is the proportion required ?" 

" Eight hundred and fifty cubic centimetres of alcohol 
and seventy-five cubic centimetres of water." 

" Now, suppose you mix the two quantities ; how 
much does that give ?" 

" Nine hundred and twenty-five cubic centimetres." 



304 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

" Very well ; how many times must you mix this 
quantity ?" 

"Now I see; we divide 3700 by 925, which gives 
4. I therefore need four times 850 cubic centimetres, 
or 3400 cubic centimetres, of alcohol, and four times 
75, or 300 cubic centimetres, of water." 

" And how much alcohol and water have you in the 
prepared mixture?" 

" Eighteen hundred cubic centimetres of alcohol and 
two hundred cubic centimetres of water. I therefore 
add sixteen hundred cubic centimetres of alcohol and 
one hundred cubic centimetres of water to obtain the 
desired mixture. I did not think it was so easy." 

" This example," continued the Proprietor, " leads us 
to alligation, a term used in arithmetic to denote the 
solution of problems involving the mixing of different 
ingredients of different values or percentages. It is 
used very largely in manufacturing, and is also applied 
in pharmacy and chemistry. The principle on which 
such problems are based is exceedingly simple, and yet 
there is no other process of arithmetic in which more 
confusion reigns and more mistakes are made by begin- 
ners. All that are needed are a thorough understand- 
ing of the principles, and clear, logical reasoning. I 
cannot in a few minutes go over the whole ground, but 
I will, by a few practical examples, try to demonstrate 
the underlying principles to you. 

" Let us suppose that we have a quantity of sachet 
powder, for which we paid nineteen cents an ounce, and 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 305 

some orris root at three cents an ounce ; and that we 
wish to mix the two so that an ounce of the mixture 
will cost us twelve cents. How much of each must we 
take? Now, follow my argument. There are two in- 
gredients to be mixed, the one costing less, the other 
more, than a desired price ; therefore, if we sell the 
expensive article at the desired price, we lose; and 
if we sell the cheap article at the stated price, we 
gain. This loss and gain must balance each other in 
the mixture that we are about to prepare. Thus, we 
must establish a unit of loss and gain, and figure out 
how much of each ingredient must be sold to gain or 
lose this unit. In the problem before us, in which the 
values are measured by cents, we will call one cent the 
unit ; and the first step of the problem is to determine 
how much sachet powder we would have to sell at 
twelve cents an ounce to lose one cent, and how much 
orris root at the same price to gain one cent ? Can you 
follow me ?" 

" Yes, sir ; very well," said the Junior ; " and I be- 
lieve I can now continue the argument, if you will let 
me do so." 

" Certainly," replied the Proprietor ; " try, anyway." 
" If I sell an ounce of sachet powder, for which I 
paid nineteen cents, at twelve cents, I lose seven cents, 
or I lose one cent by selling one-seventh of an ounce ; 
in the same way, if I sell an ounce of orris root, for 
which I paid three cents, at twelve cents, I gain nine 
cents, or I gain one cent by selling one-ninth of an 

20 



306 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

ounce. It is therefore evident, in order to equalize the 
one cent gained by the one cent lost, that I must sell 
one-seventh of an ounce of sachet powder to one-ninth 
of an ounce of orris root." 

" That was well said/' continued the Proprietor; 
" and if you will now remember that the figures one- 
seventh and one-ninth are not the quantities themselves, 
but only the proportions, you will see that we can change 
them easily to integers, by multiplying both with the 
common denominators of the two factions, which is 
sixty-three, so that we say " 

Here the Junior interrupted him by saying : " 63 
times \ is 9, and 63 times \ is 7 ; we therefore take 
nine ounces of sachet powder to seven of orris root." 

" Now, let me prove it," said the Proprietor : " nine 
ounces of sachet powder at nineteen cents an ounce cost 
one hundred and seventy-one cents, and seven ounces 
of orris root at three cents cost twenty-one cents ; to- 
gether sixteen ounces at one hundred and ninety-two 
cents, or one ounce at twelve cents, as required." 

""Well, I really do not see any difficulty in this 
problem, now that you have explained it so clearly to 
me. I remember when I tried to learn this before, that 
we had a system of lines by which we connected two 
figures ; and it was these lines that used to puzzle me." 

" You mean," said the Proprietor, " a graphic rep- 
resentation of the process, which is, indeed, a help when 
the number of ingredients is larger than two. Let us 
suppose, for instance, that we want to prepare tincture 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 



307 



of opium, and have four different quantities of pow- 
dered opium, which by analysis have yielded respectively 
five, nine, fifteen, and seventeen per cent, of crystallized 
morphine. The average strength required by the ' Phar- 
macopoeia' is fourteen per cent. ; and in order to figure 
out our problem, a graphic representation is of great 
help. We, therefore, draw a perpendicular line, and 
write to the left of it the required mean percentage, 
fourteen ; and to the right, the different ingredients, 
commencing with the smaller, five, nine, fifteen, seven- 
teen. Now we draw another line, and write opposite 
each figure the proportion of the standard opium it 
would take to gain or lose one per cent. ; which will 
be respectively one-ninth, one-fifth, one, one-third. 
Multiply these figures by the common denominator, 
forty-five, and we obtain as the quantities required, 
five, nine, forty-five, and fifteen ounces or pounds, or 
whatever common unit of weight we choose to adopt. 
The proof of correctness is easily shown ; thus : 



r 


5 


* 


5 


5 X 5 = 25 




9 


i 


9 


9 X 9 = 81 


14 ........ J 












15 


1 


45 


45 X 15 = 675 


- 


17 


i 

3 


15 


15 X 17 = 255 



74 (parts) into 1036 (14 
74 

296 
296 



Or 1 part at 14 per cent." 



" Is this the only solution ?" asked the Junior, 
should think other combinations could be made." 



308 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 



" So they can," replied the Proprietor ; " we can 
always combine two figures, one less than the required 
mean and one larger. For instance : 



14 .... - 


5- 

9~ 

15- 

17- 




i-5 

1 


1-9 

i-3 


1 

5 


1 
3' 


1 
1 

5 
3 


1X5= 6 
1X9= 9 

5 X 15= 75 
3X17= 51 


Or 1 part at 14 p 


er cent. 










10 (parts) at 140 



"You see that I connected 5 and 17 by a line, in- 
dicating that I wish to consider these two quantities 
by themselves; and in the same way 9 and 15. The 
drawing will explain the way ot proceeding. Now draw 
another diagram, combining 5 with 15 and 9 with 17." 

The Junior, after some reflection, produced the fol- 
lowing : 



14 



15- 
17 — ' 



Or 1 part at 14 per cent. 



1X5= 5 

3 X 9 = 27 

9 X 15 = 135 

5 X 17 = 85 



18 (parts) at 252 



"Now notice," continued the Proprietor, "that in 
comparing the original figures of any couplet, the pro- 
portional number finally obtained for either term is the 
difference between the mean rate and the other term. 
Thus, in our last diagram, combining 5 and 15, the 
final proportional number for 5 is 1, being the dif- 
ference between 15 and the mean, 14 ; and the propor- 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 



309 



tional number for 15 is 9, being the difference between 
14 and 5. In the same way the couplet 9 and 17 
shows as final number for 9 the figure 3, being the 
difference between 17 and 14; and for 17 the figure 5, 
beiug the difference between 14 and 9. You might, 
therefore, write the last column directly after the first 
one, omitting the intermediate explanatory columns, as 
is often done." 

" That is what we used to do in school/' said the 
Junior ; " and we never understood how we got these 
figures. I believe that is why I could not remember it." 

The Proprietor replied : " That is a very natural 
consequence of substituting the memorizing of a rule 
for the logical development of the problem." 

"Suppose there is an uneven number of figures," 
said the Junior. 

" In that case you must combine one figure with two 
opposite ones. For instance, we have mixtures of 
alcohol and water of the following percentages in alco- 
hol : ten, twenty, thirty, eighty, and ninety ; and we 
wish to combine them so as to obtain a fifty-per-cent. 
mixture. I will draw the diagram." 



50 . . . 



Or 1 part at 50 per cent. 











1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


r 


10 n 


i 

¥0" 






3 






3 




20- 








1 
30 






4 




4 


■ 


30- 

80= 




3 


1 
"3(T 




i 

20 
1 
377 


4 




3 
2 


3 

6 


L 


90- 








1 
¥0 






3 




3 



3 X 10 = 30 

4X20=: 80 
3 X 30 = 90 
6 X 80 = 480 
3 X 90 = 270 

19 (parts) into 950 



310 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

" You see that we use the eighty -per-cent. alcohol 
twice, and we therefore obtain two final proportional 
figures for it, 4 and 2, which must be added for the 
final column. A great number of variations can, of 
course, be made by combining the figures differently, 
and consequently there will be different answers." 

" I think I understand this thoroughly now," said 
the Junior ; " but there is one thing that is not quite 
plain to me. We obtain here a number of answers 
different from each other and yet all correct. But 
suppose we have a certain quantity of an article that 
we wish to use up, how shall we proceed ?" 

" Take again a practical illustration," said the Pro- 
prietor ; " let us suppose we are told to make a mix- 
ture of glycerin and water of a specific gravity of 1.15, 
and we have five hundred cubic centimetres of a mix- 
ture of 1.06 specific gravity w r hich we wish to use up, 
the specific gravity of pure glycerin being 1.25 : 



1.15 

Or 1 part at 1.15. 



1.06 
1.25 



i 

9 
1 

To 



10 



10 X 1.06 = 10.60 
9 X 1.25 = 11.25 



19 (parts) at 21.85 



" This diagram shows that we must take ten parts 
of the weaker mixture to nine of glycerin ; but we 
have five hundred cubic centimetres on hand, — that is, 
fifty times ten parts, — and we must therefore take 
fifty times nine parts of glycerin. In other words, we 
mix the five hundred cubic centimetres of glycerin 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 



311 



and water of a specific gravity of 1.06 with four hun- 
dred and fifty cubic centimetres of pure glycerin and 
obtain nine hundred and fifty cubic centimetres of a 
mixture of specific gravity of 1.15. A similar process 
of arguing is needed if the finished product is to be of 
a fixed quantity. For instance, we want to prepare 
five thousand cubic centimetres of tincture of opium, 
and have on hand three different lots of the drug, con- 
taining seven, eight, and sixteen per cent, of morphine, 
how much must we take of each ?" 

" Let me try to figure this out," said the Junior. " I 
believe I can do it. The opium for our tincture must 
contain an average of fourteen per cent, of morphine ; 
we therefore prepare this diagram : 



14 



7— 






1 
T 




2 


2 


8 H 




i 

6 




1 




1 


16_ 




1 
2 


1 
2 


3 


7 


10 

13 ( 



2 X 7 = 14 

1X8=8 

10 X 16 = 160 

parts) at 182 



Or 1 part at 1 4 per cent. 



"Now, the proportional numbers added together 
give thirteen units/' continued the Proprietor ; " but 
for our five thousand cubic centimetres of tincture we 
need five hundred grammes of the drug. Therefore 
we need as many units as 13 is contained in 500, or 
38.462. We must therefore multiply each quantity by 
38.462, as follows : 

2 X 38.462 = 76.924 grammes of seven-per-cent opium. 

1 X 38 462 = 38.462 grammes of eight-per-cent. opium. 

10 X 38.462 = 384.620 grammes of sixteen-per-eent. opium. 



312 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

" Now prove the correctness of these figures/' con- 
tinued the Proprietor. 

"That is easily done/' said the Junior; "we multi- 
ply the quantities with the percentages and add : 

7X 76.924= 538.468 

8 X 38.462 = 307.696 

16 X 384.620 = 6153.920 



500.006 at 7000.084 per cent. 
Or 1 part at 14 per cent." 

" These examples/' said the Proprietor, " will give 
you an idea of what alligation is and how easily prob- 
lems of this kind can be solved. There is much more 
to be said about it. but what we have gone over will 
be sufficient for your present needs. I see I am 
wanted in the store." 

These last words were spoken on observing the 
Senior, who had appeared at the entrance, casting a 
suggestive look at his Preceptor. At the same time a 
rather loud and excited conversation was heard to take 
place between the Manager and a customer. 

"There is a lunatic in the store," whispered the 
Senior, half frightened and half amused. " He wants 
some poison with which to kill himself." 

The Proprietor walked leisurely into the store and 
beheld one of those unfortunate, dejected victims of 
drink that are but too numerous in large cities. 

" There you are, doctor," said the drunkard ; " I 
know you will help me. I am tired of life ; I am 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 313 

ashamed to live ; I will end this miserable existence. 
Look at me ! What good am I to myself or to any- 
body else ? I've been on a spree for two weeks ; my 
money is gone, my good name " 

Here he stopped suddenly, as if overcome by the 
recollection of his former better life, and the conscious- 
ness of his depravity slightly flushed his face. 

" Why don't you regain your good name ?" asked 
the Proprietor. 

" Too late, too late, doctor !" replied the drunkard, 
staggering nearer. u I'll tell you what I want. Give 
me some poison to end this miserable life ; I will take 
it to-night on going to bed." 

" What do you think of me !" said the Proprietor. 
" If I give the poison to you now, you will show it to 
everybody and talk about it, and I shalJ be arrested 
before you take it. Oh, no, sir !" 

" I will tell nobody," said the customer, " upon my 
honor." 

"You might as well affirm, 'Upon my sobriety.' 
No, sir. You can have no poison." 

" Oh, doctor, help me ! Don't you see that I am 
tired of life?" 

" Yes, I see ; and I think that death is the greatest 
blessing for you. I am also willing to help you, but 
not in the way that you state." 

" What will you do, doctor ?" 

" I will give you a drink that will kill you within 
five minutes ; but you must promise to leave this store 



314 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

at once after drinking it, because I do not want to see 
you die in here. Will you do so ?" 

" Certainly, doctor, certainly." 

" And you are quite sure that you are ready to die ?" 

" Certainly. I wish nothing else." 

a Then wait a few minutes," said the Proprietor. 
" I will prepare the draught." 

He went behind the prescription- counter, where the 
clerks had gathered and overheard the peculiar con- 
versation. When they saw the serious features of 
their Preceptor change to smiles as soon as he was out 
of sight of the would be suicide, they knew that a joke 
was intended, and could hardly refrain from laughing. 

" I expect he will run out now," whispered the 
Proprietor; and the deep sighs that came from the 
store indicated that the drunkard was arguing with 
himself about the events of the next five minutes. 
After a while the Proprietor took a small graduate, 
filled it with water, and added a few drops of com- 
pound tincture of cardamom to impart color and taste 
to the " deadly" drink. " I must scare him a little 
more before I get rid of him," he said to his clerks, 
and returned with the graduate to the store. 

"Now, sir," he said, "here I have your poison. 
Drink it all, and run out ; in five minutes you will be 
relieved forever." 

The drunkard looked at the glass before him. 
Slowly his trembling hand was raised, but it dropped 
again. 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 315 

"No mistake about the drink killing me?" he 
asked, less determined than before. 

" None at all. Go on, now." 

The unfortunate fellow took the glass and lifted it 
to his nose. 

" In five minutes ?" he said, doubtfully. 

" In five minutes. You will have no time to change 
your dress." 

"No time to change my dress," mused the other, 
" nor to take another drink." 

"Nor to reform," thundered the Proprietor, im- 
pressively. " You will go to hell as you are." 

This sudden turn seemed to strike the suicide like a 
flash of lightning ; his eyes opened wide, and in con- 
sternation he gazed at the speaker. Then, as if follow- 
ing a sudden inspiration, he exclaimed, in a tone of 
earnest determination : " No, sir ; no, sir ;" and, putting 
down the glass without having drunk a drop of the 
contents, quickly walked out of the door, followed by 
the loud laughter of the clerks, who could no longer 
restrain themselves. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

PLASTER-MAKING — OFFICIAL PLASTERS — AN OLD 
ACQUAINTANCE — NON- SECRETS PASSED EXAMI- 
NATIONS — STARTING IN BUSINESS — BROADER 
VIEAVS — CHARACTER. 

"An order of this kind is a 'rarity/ said the Pro- 
prietor one morning, showing his clerks a prescription 
that a customer had just handed him. " I remember 
the time when plaster-making was our daily occupa- 
tion, but I would like to know how many pharmacists 
are able or would care to make any to-day ?" 

The prescription in question read : 

Cantharidis, gss ; 
Camphor, gi ; 
Cerae flavse, gi ; 
Piscis Burgund., ^i ; 
01. Olivae, gi 
M. et ft. emplast. 6 x 10. 
Spread on skin. 

"What shall we do with it?" 

The clerks looked at the prescription, and after 
awhile the Senior suggested : 

" The camphor must be powdered and mixed with 
the cantharidis ; there can be no question about that. 
The other ingredients appear to me to be Burgundy 
Pitch Plaster." 
316 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 317 

" You are nearly right/' said the Proprietor ; " a 
difference, however, exists in the quantities of wax and 
olive oil, which in the official plaster are in the pro- 
portion of one to three, while here we have equal parts. 
We must, therefore, melt the ingredients and, while 
liquid, incorporate with them the mixed powder." 

"This is the first time in my experience/' said the 
Senior, " that I have seen a plaster made in a phar- 
macy." 

The Proprietor took from a closet an apparatus 
which he called his plaster-pot, consisting of a round, 
iron pot, surrounded by a water-bath, resembling the 
glue-kettle that carpenters use, with the difference that 
the inner pot was provided with an iron, wood-covered 
handle. 

" In former years," he said, " I have prepared many 
plasters in this pot, which now must be cleaned of dust 
and spider-webs, in order to make it fit to be used, — a 
clear illustration, again, of how the large manufacturers 
have superseded some of the handicraft of the phar- 
macist. Weigh the ingredients." 

While the Senior weighed the articles for the plaster 
and put them into the inner pot, after preparing the 
water-bath, the Junior powdered the camphor and 
mixed with it the cantharidis. 

" In preparing this plaster-body," said the Pro- 
prietor, " we follow the same directions laid down in 
the ' Pharmacopoeia' for Burgundy Pitch Plaster, melt- 
ing the solids and then incorporating the olive oil with 



318 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

constant stirring. This plaster enters into some other 
official plasters, namely, Emplastrum Picis Canthari- 
datum, or warming plaster, being greatly rubefacient, 
resembling our prescription, which, however, also con- 
tains camphor. The Burgundy Pitch Plaster is also 
used in iron plaster, Emplastrum Ferri. A more im- 
portant plaster-base, used in most other plasters, is the 
lead plaster, Emplastrum Plumbi." 

" I know how it is made," interrupted the Senior : 
"oxide of lead, olive oil, and water are boiled to- 
gether." 

" So it is," answered the Proprietor. " There were 
various theories about the chemical process going on in 
such a mixture, but the latest researches show that 
saponification takes place, and the plaster might be 
called a lead-oleo-palmitate, or, if stearin be present in 
the olive oil, a lead-oleo-stearo-palmitate. 

" By mixing lead plaster with resin and yellow wax, 
the Resin Plaster, or common adhesive plaster, is 
formed, which comes spread on muslin. It is the best- 
known plaster, and enters again into a number of other 
official plasters. 

" Let us now proceed with our prescription," con- 
tinued the Proprietor, pouring a dram of olive oil 
into the molten pitch and wax and stirring with a 
glass rod. 

"No further heat is needed," he added,, turning off 
the gas. " How will we get the camphor and can- 
tharidis into the plaster?" 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 319 

"Why, just put it in and stir," suggested the 
Senior. 

" A better way, to avoid lumping, is to sift it into 
this mass. A large sieve is, of course, out of the ques- 
tion ; but my little prescription-sieve, that you know 
already, answers the purpose admirably by taking off 
the lower receptacle, allowing the sifted powder to drop 
into the plaster-pot." 

By using the prescription- sieve the camphor and 
cantharidis were soon incorporated in the plaster, and 
the Junior, who was stirring the mixture with a glass 
rod, looked inquiringly at his Preceptor for further 
instructions. 

" Lift the pot out of the water- bath," said the latter, 
" so that the mass may harden the more quickly. We 
will meanwhile prepare the skin. We need a piece six 
by ten inches. How can we best spread the plaster ?" 
And when no one answered, he continued : " There 
are various contrivances for this purpose, which it 
would take too long to explain ; nor does such a 
detailed explanation seem necessary, as plaster-making 
is now hardly ever required of the pharmacist. The 
simplest and most easily improvised method consists in 
cutting strips of thin pasteboard of a length a little 
greater than required, — that is, two pieces of eight 
inches and two of about twelve inches each. Now lay 
the skin on the counter, tacking it down with some 
thumb-tacks, and on it put the four strips of paste- 
board so that they form a rectangle of the size of six 



320 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

by ten inches, holding them in position again by four 
thumb-tacks." 

In speaking, he accompanied his explanations by the 
deed, and, taking the plaster-pot, continued : " In this 
rectangle we now pour the molten plaster before it con- 
geals entirely, and with a warmed spatula spread it 
evenly over the surface. When it becomes hard, we 
remove the strips of pasteboard and cut the skin off, 
leaving a border of about half an inch all around. I 
will now leave this work for you to finish, as I am 
wanted in the store." 

He followed the Manager, who had handed him the 
card of a visitor, by whose name he remembered an 
old business acquaintance. 

" I am glad to see you, sir," he accosted him, shaking 
hands with him warmly. "I believe it is almost ten 
years since we met last. I have often thought of you, 
but have never found time to hunt you up." 

" This is the best greeting that I have received for a 
long time," replied the visitor ; " a drummer is gener- 
ally not addressed so cordially." 

" A drummer?" exclaimed the Proprietor in surprise. 

" Yes ; an ordinary drummer ! My business ven- 
tures were not successful — but I will speak about these 
things at a more opportune hour. Let us rather come 
to the object of my visit, for I know your way and the 
value of your time. I am travelling for a manufacturer 
of Non- secret Preparations, and have an excellent line 
of samples with me, elegant and neat in appearance, 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 321 

quick and reliable in their action, moderate and reason- 
able in price/' While he spoke, he opened his satchel 
and displayed a long array of the various so-called 
Non-secrets before the astonished Proprietor. 

There were Sarsaparillas, Liver and Kidney Cures, 
Expectorants, Alteratives, Liniments, Salves, and Pills, 
nearly all of them ingenious imitations of similar pro- 
prietary goods of wide repute. 

" Can you find a better selection ?" he continued ; 
" the formula is printed on every package, together 
with a list of the various ailments that each preparation 
will cure. We also print your own name on every 
wrapper, in lots of three dozen, and relieve you thereby 
of all the trouble of devising formula? and labels, not 
to speak of the trouble to which it would put you to 
prepare them yourself." 

All this was done quickly and dexterously, before the 
Proprietor had recovered from his surprise. Finally 
he exclaimed : 

" And all this from the friend who once fought side 
by side with me the battles against this new octopus 
that throttles pharmacy ?" 

The visitor stopped, and it was now his turn to be 
surprised. His friend's words recalled the time, now 
long past, when they both had attended the meetings 
of State and National Associations, and, with the fire 
of youthful enthusiasts, argued against the introduc- 
tion and approval of the very goods that he was now 
trying to sell. 

21 



322 THE PHARxMACIST AT WORK 

" I know ! I know !" lie exclaimed, with a forlorn 
smile ; " lovely days they were, and pleasant remem- 
brances come from them. But those were theories ; in 
practice we must howl with the wolves. Why, my 
friend, you do not mean to say that you really prepare 
your own family remedies when you can buy them 
better and cheaper ?" 

" I mean to say/' replied the Proprietor, with great 
earnestness, " that I always practise what I preach. 
When I argue a question before my pharmaceutical 
brethren, I do so because my heart is full of the sub- 
ject, and my euthusiasm is as honest as my words are 
true. I have always condemned the ' non-secret' remedy 
as fighting the devil with fire. If it is admitted that 
ready-made remedies must be kept, — and it is at pres- 
ent impossible to free the profession from this neces- 
sary evil, — then the pharmacist should prepare them 
himself. His professional pride must prompt him not 
to trust to others what he can do himself; his honesty 
demands it of him, — for how can he pretend to know 
the ingredients unless he puts them in the mixture 
himself, — and, finally, his own interest will guide him, 
for the price that he would pay you for half a gross of 
your e non-secrets' is sufficient to buy the whole outfit 
of boxes and labels that he needs for a full line. I 
am sorry to disappoint you, but I cannot sacrifice my 
cherished principle to the pleasure of seeing an old 
friend again." 

Ashamed and disappointed, the travelling salesman 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 323 

removed his samples from the counter, and the con- 
versation drifted to the general state of business and 
the many difficulties that beset the honest pharmacist 
in his calling. 

Soon after the departure of the travelling salesman 
the Senior approached the Proprietor, and, his eyes 
sparkling with joy and excitement, exclaimed : 

" I am through ! I have just received word that I 
have passed the College, as well as the Board." 

" My hearty congratulations !" replied the Proprie- 
tor, shaking his hand warmly. " So you are a full- 
fledged, registered pharmacist ! I know that you have 
honestly worked for it, and never doubted that you 
would succeed." 

" I owe my success more to your good instructions 
than my own work," modestly said the young man. 
11 Without your help I would never have learned what 
I know." 

" And what do you intend to do now ?" asked the 
Proprietor. 

u That is a question that I was going to ask you. 
Your advice shall decide which of two plans I shall 
adopt.' 7 

"You might open an opposition store, with cut 
prices, in the next block," said the Proprietor, jokingly. 

" I know better than that," replied the young man. 
" I am still in doubt whether I should go into busi- 
ness at all or not. A friend of mine has a chance to 
buy an old-established store, whose owner wishes to 



324 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

retire from business. He proposed a partnership to 
me, although we both together have only half as much 
money as the business will cost. What do you think 
of it?" 

"And what is your other plan?" asked the Pro- 
prietor. 

" Going West. I have spent all my life in this city, 
and have naturally a desire to see more of the country. 
However, the good chance that my friend offered 
me " 

" Go West !" interrupted the Proprietor, emphati- 
cally. " See the world and move among other people 
than those that you have known and who have known 
you since your childhood. It is a common error of 
young men to rush into the ownership of a store as 
the panacea of all pharmaceutical evils. They argue 
that independence will relieve them from the tedious, 
long hours, from the comparatively small remunera- 
tion, and the arduous work of our profession. Too 
late they discover that their cares and worries have 
only then begun, that the new independence is accom- 
panied by new duties and responsibilities, which will 
not only occupy their mind during the day, but also 
steal into the rest of the night. But there is a still 
mightier reason why you should not now bind yourself 
to a permanent duty. See the world ! Learn what 
lies and lives beyond the narrow circle in which you 
have moved so far. You have until to-day devoted 
all your energies to the acquisition of the deftness, 



THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 325 

skill, and knowledge necessary in the proper execution 
of your profession. Your family and friends have 
guided you ; now break loose from these ties and de- 
pend on yourself; meet other men, see other cities and 
States, where different conditions of life and different 
customs prevail ; fight your way through adverse in- 
fluences and adapt yourself to other surroundings. 
What do you know of your country and its institu- 
tions ? You hear and read of its size, its wealth, and 
its resources. Gro and see it ! Let the vastness of its 
plains, the grandeur of its mountains, the fertility of 
its valleys, the inexhaustible supply of its mines, form 
an impression on your youthful mind. Travel through 
them all ; watch and observe. Meet with disappoint- 
ments, endure hardships if necessary, and in the strug- 
gle for existence and supremacy learn to discern good 
from evil, right from wrong. If, then, after four or 
five years you will return home, ready to settle down, 
your horizon will not be bounded by the four walls of 
your store, as is so often the case with pharmacists ; 
you will take a broader, more liberal view of your 
profession, and your actions, your methods, your suc- 
cess, will show this enlargement of your mind. You 
will then recognize the high value of intercourse with 
your brother pharmacists ; you will enjoy the entertain- 
ment contained in a lively correspondence with men of 
learning and experience ; you will consider it not only 
a pleasure, but a duty to attend State and National 
Pharmaceutical Associations ; you will be interested 



326 THE PHARMACIST AT WORK 

in their discussions and partake in their argumentSc 
Your voice will be a welcome sound to others of broad 
views, your words will be listened to with attention 
and respect, and you will in time gain a place among 
the prominent men in your profession. 

" Thus, these years will not only be the most useful 
and fruitful time of your life, but they will also give 
you that foundation of all success, that invaluable pos- 
session necessary to respected man and citizen, and 
particularly indispensable in our profession, — a char- 
acter." 



THE END. 



United States Dispensatory. 

The 17th edition of this indispensable guide and authority has 
been carefully and thoroughly revised upon the basis of the New 
Pharmacopoeia by the editors, H. C. Wood, M.D., LL.D., Joseph 
P. Remington, Ph.M., F.C.S., and Samuel P. Sadtler, Ph.D., 
F.C.S. 

All the New Remedies have been ably considered, both from 
the stand-point of the physician and that of the practical pharma- 
cist. Matter really obselete has been replaced by that which is now 
necessary, while none of the valuable features which have given 
such deserved popularity to former editions have been sacrificed. 

Cloth extra, $7.00 ; best leather, raised bands, $8.00 ; half 
Russia, raised bands, $9.00. For facility of reference, 
Denison's Patent Index will be inserted for 50 cents addi- 
tional to these prices. 

The work is recognized by the government of the United States as the 
standard work of reference, and is endorsed and universally used by colleges 
of medicine and pharmacy and State examining boards. 



" The work is well worthy of appreciation on the part of all interested in 
the progress of medicine and pharmacy, and we bespeak for it not merely a 
place upon the bookshelf of every pharmacist, but a careful perusal, as em- 
bracing much that is important in the way of current information, and as con- 
taining valuable matter as a work of ready and convenient reference." — 
Druggists' Journal. 

" The book is bound to have an enormous sale, as it is a positive necessity 
to all who wish a complete compendium of drugs and medicines." — Minne- 
apolis Medical Journal. 

" This is undoubtedly the most important edition of this voluminous and 
indispensable work yet issued ; not because it is the latest, but because it has 
gathered within its capacious limits everything that is new in materia medica 
or therapeutics, chemistry, and pharmaceutical research." — Philadelphia 
Clinical Record. 

" We commend this work as a most valuable addition not only to pharma- 
ceutical literature, but to the medical profession as almost invaluable. Its 
literature, its chemistry, and its pharmacy are fully up to any similar work here 
or abroad of its kind, and the high standard of excellence in the past is only 
enhanced by the thoroughly reliable and trustworthy work of the present 
edition." — Pharmaceutical Record. 



*** For sale by all Booksellers, or will be sent by the Publishers, free 0/ 
expense, on receipt 0/ the price. 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY, 

715-717 MARKET STREET, 
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 



The Eye and Its Care. 

BY 

FRANK ALLPORT, M.D., 

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA. 

Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology and Otology in the Minnesota 

State University; President of the Minnesota State Medical 

Society ; Secretary of the Ophthalmological Section 

of the American Medical Association, etc., etc. 



Illustrated. i2mo. Cloth, Si.oo. 



This book is prepared for the general public, and is intended to 
supply correct information as to the anatomy and physiology of the 
eye. its uses and limitations, and its general care. It will be in- 
valuable as a book for oculists to recommend to their patients, and 
also to school-teachers, advanced pupils, and those interested in edu- 
cational matters and ocular hygiene. Great care has been taken to 
expunge everything technical or of an abstruse character, and to 
avoid, as far as possible, the use of scientific terms and expressions. 

" Dr. Allport is certainly to be congratulated upon having so clearly and 
interestingly treated his topic, and the public are to be congratulated upon having 
such an attractive text-book to read and study." — Minneapolis Jour?ial. 

" Here is a little publication that bids fair to become popular so far as its simple 
and easy treatment of the study of the eye is concerned. Teachers and readers 
will affirm that but little has been done to make this study an interesting and a 
general one. and any effort to do so is hailed by the public as a real beneficence. 
The author informs us that he has not written the book for physicians and medical 
practitioners, but for the teacher and the student of ocular hygiene It is not a dry 
and purposeless treatise, but one that may be readily understood by the general 
reader." — Boston Courier. 

" This book ' is -written essentially for school-teachers, advanced pupDs, and 
those interested in educational matters and ocular hygiene,' to whom, as well as to 
medical students and general practitioners, we recommend it as a work that, no 
doubt, will * prove a useful assistant in the formation of correct ideas as to the 
anatomy and physiology of the eye. its uses and limitations, and as to what 
methods tending toward a perpetuation of good eyesight in this and succeeding 
generations may be advantageously adopted.' " — Massachusetts Medical Jour fial. 



J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY,. PHILADELPHIA. 



